iPhone/Android = Apple/PC battle all over again?

T

TapHappy

macrumors regular
With the introduction of a slew of new Android hardward this summer from vendors like Sony Ericsson, HTC, and Samsung, it got me wondering if we are seeing the closed/proprietary VS open/multi-vendor platform battle of the 80's again.

Granted the Apple/iPhone platform has taken off like gang busters. The iPhone is an engineering marvel in every way, but as quality and choice from the Android platform vendors improve, can Apple sustain their lead?

I really think Apple is going to have to expanding it's carrier partnerships beyond the AT&T relationship in the US sooner than later. The $99 iPhone 3G combined with a choice of carriers would give Apple a huge advantage in the the consumer market. As it stands now, they are leaving the door wide open for Android.
 
Cell phones are a tad different in the U.S. because of contracts, that means that users are less likely to switch and then there is questions of carrier loyalty. But you pointed out the biggest difference, which is that Apple is doing significantly better then the rest and has a fanbase that only seems to get bigger and bigger.
 
I don't think that Apple sees Android as a threat.

In fact Google and Apple have a fantastic relationship together. Google are Apple's largest customers.

Google supply a few things for the iPhone OS (Maps, Safari search, couple of apps).

Apple reportedly asked Google NOT to make Android multi-touch.

The smartphone market is increasing, mainly because of Apple and Google. There's enough space for everybody.
 
Ninja Dom said:
I don't think that Apple sees Android as a threat.

In fact Google and Apple have a fantastic relationship together. Google are Apple's largest customers.

Google supply a few things for the iPhone OS (Maps, Safari search, couple of apps).

Apple reportedly asked Google NOT to make Android multi-touch.

The smartphone market is increasing, mainly because of Apple and Google. There's enough space for everybody.
Click to expand...

i think google just didnt get around to multitouch before android was released. they just left it up to htc (and other manufacturers) to put multitouch on the devices if they wanted to.
 
iTunes is just too dominating now. But, I certainly would like to see Google catch up in near future. Or, if it's too difficult to catch up with Apple, I'd like to see Google, Sony, and Microsoft join forces to create another 'iTunes' just like CBS, NBC, and FOX joined forces to create Hulu.
 
coolwater said:
iTunes is just too dominating now. But, I certainly would like to see Google catch up in near future. Or, if it's too difficult to catch up with Apple, I'd like to see Google, Sony, and Microsoft join forces to create another 'iTunes' just like CBS, NBC, and FOX joined forces to create Hulu.
Click to expand...

Conglomerates are not a good thing.
 
coolwater said:
iTunes is just too dominating now. But, I certainly would like to see Google catch up in near future. Or, if it's too difficult to catch up with Apple, I'd like to see Google, Sony, and Microsoft join forces to create another 'iTunes' just like CBS, NBC, and FOX joined forces to create Hulu.
Click to expand...


I think the iTunes/App Store coupling is a HUGE advantage for the iPhone over any potential competitor. Microsoft underestimated this and I think Palm and Google are doing the same. Nobody had been able to mount a successful challenge to iTunes. It's Apple's ace in the hole.
 
TapHappy said:
Today maybe not, but by 2010 we will see. For each Android phone sold that's one less iPhone revenue point for Apple.
Click to expand...

I think that's where you're wrong. Smartphones are currently 21% of the total units sold in the US cell phone market. There really isn't much need for Apple/RIM/Google/Palm/etc. to eat each other's lunches when 79% of cell phone users don't have a smart phone at all.

To a certain extent some of that 79% will never own a smartphone (or at least not until smartphones are all that's left in the market and the low end is as cheap as current low end phones), but there's still enormous untapped potential. For example, my mother just switched from a free-with-contract verizon flip phone to an iphone, and my gf may well soon do the same. But neither of them has ever even considered android, blackberry, or anything else. In cases like that, a new iphone user is not a lost user for google - it's a user google was never in contention for.
 
Well with the HTC Hero coming to AT&T late this year the iPhone could see some serious competition. For those of you that haven't seen the Hero, check it out, it has a lot of the features of the Pre in an iPhone's body, with a 5MP camera with autofocus. And before you flame me, no the AT&T Hero isn't official, but a version with AT&T 3G bands has cleared the FCC and T-Mobile's CEO has officially announced that they won't be bringing it to market. I already own an unlocked G1 along with my 3G iPhone and I will be buying the Hero when it comes out (unsubsidized, I wanna keep my iPhone).

It'll be an interesting battle to say the least as Android matures.
 
TapHappy said:
I think the iTunes/App Store coupling is a HUGE advantage for the iPhone over any potential competitor. Microsoft underestimated this and I think Palm and Google are doing the same. Nobody had been able to mount a successful challenge to iTunes. It's Apple's ace in the hole.
Click to expand...

google and palm are not underestimating anything. itunes is a double edged sword. on one hand it offers easy syncing with the iphone, but on the other hand you cant manage your iphone without it. being able to use your phone in mass storage mode is very convenient. being forced to use itunes removes control and flexibility from the user.

i dont think google and palm will ever create an "itunes competitor", they are more cloud oriented. the contacts/calendar/apps are all done OTA, you just dont need to sync with your computer anymore (besides music). for music you can still use itunes to buy your songs, and you can use an app like doubletwist or just drag and drop the files over. other than that, syncing your phone with a computer is so 2007. :D
 
Geniusdog254 said:
Well with the HTC Hero coming to AT&T late this year the iPhone could see some serious competition. For those of you that haven't seen the Hero, check it out, it has a lot of the features of the Pre in an iPhone's body, with a 5MP camera with autofocus. And before you flame me, no the AT&T Hero isn't official, but a version with AT&T 3G bands has cleared the FCC and T-Mobile's CEO has officially announced that they won't be bringing it to market. I already own an unlocked G1 along with my 3G iPhone and I will be buying the Hero when it comes out (unsubsidized, I wanna keep my iPhone).

It'll be an interesting battle to say the least as Android matures.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but here's the thing. Most people who don't have smartphones and don't read tech blogs don't even know what android is. But *everyone* knows what the iphone is.

Android is nice, Hero looks interesting, etc. etc. But do you think there's going to be media coverage of this release? Lines? Record-breaking sales at AT&T? No, there won't. IMO there will be even less hype than for the Pre because this isn't even the first android phone.

As I said before, android doesn't have to try to "kill" the iphone to succeed. And that's a good thing, because they're not going to outsell an iconic product with a couple extra megapixels.
 
thats a good point that people on this forum seem to forget. they see the hero and think "oh great, another iphone killer lololol". thats a very myopic pov. plenty of market share exists to be stolen from nokia s60 and windows mobile, and thats what android is really going to eat into.
 
ruinfx said:
google and palm are not underestimating anything. itunes is a double edged sword. on one hand it offers easy syncing with the iphone, but on the other hand you cant manage your iphone without it. being able to use your phone in mass storage mode is very convenient. being forced to use itunes removes control and flexibility from the user.
Click to expand...

IMO there's a real tendency on tech sites like this to assume that the average consumer, even the average smartphone consumer, is like the average macrumors reader. Not so. I've never heard *anyone* outside of this site mention that they wanted to be able to use their phone in mass storage mode or that they found itunes constricting.

Some sophisticated users like the ability to manually manage everything (I say some because I consider myself pretty sophisticated with this stuff and love that itunes is a one-stop solution for the iphone), but most people just want to sync and go. They don't want to worry about what they should drag where.

This is the argument about a mac mini-tower all over again. A small subset of the consumer base wants total control over all aspects of their technology and will actually use that control to great effect (getting extra years out of a computer by upgrading only the bottleneck components for example). To these folks, the imac is an incredibly limiting design, but make no mistake, those people are a distinct minority. The ability to customize and control everything means less than zero to many people - I say *less* than zero because it actually makes things more confusing.

Bottom line, the iphone, like the imac, is meant to be taken out of its packaging and be up and running in minutes, even if you're not tech-savvy. My mom got an iphone a few days ago and already has almost everything figured out (she's never had anything but cheap flip phones). In terms of managing content, itunes is what makes that happen.
 
you can always use apps like salling media sync to sync with itunes. is the pre still able to sync with itunes or did apple patch it?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Back
Top