iPhone Predicted to Surpass Android Market Share by 2015

samcraig said:
Apple isn't going anywhere. Neither is Samsung. Neither is Google or Android. So the point is entirely moot. Again - you don't have to worry about or get excited about how much a company makes in profit. I agree - that making money is important for a business to keep going. But "we" are not REALLY talking about companies that are doing poorly. Nor are "we" REALLY talking about longevity. Are "we?"
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Sorry but it seems you weren't an Apple user when Apple almost went bankrupt. I was. And I was afraid that all the time and money investment I made on Apple hardware and software was going into trash. And it can happen again. Nobody can predict what'll happen in 10 years in technology. I certainly don't have the confidence you have in Apple. So yes, I was talking about longevity, for real.
 
I love my iPhone 5; but trying to project out two years in a space as fluid as smartphones is pure foolishness.
 
FirstNTenderbit said:
Hey! Hey! HEY! You seriously need to cut that crap out right now mister. There is no room for that type of rational thinking. What are you, normal or something.:D
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The barebones profits of Windows machines brought us the uninspired hardware, and pitiful customer service that is PC makers such as Dell, HP and others. Better profits has brought us the state of the art hardware and world class customer service that is the Mac ecosystem.

So yes, a company's profit, at least a company that is forward thinking enough to sink those profits back into insanely great user experience can be important to the customer.

Unfortunately, we as a society often seem to sink down into the Wal-Mart mentality, and shop purely on price, all the while asking our vendors and manufacturers to give us a crappy experience. IMO, this is a great deal of what has happened with Android.

I know there is a relatively tiny group of users out there who want to geek out on their phones, and buy Android because of it. And there is another element of people out there who perceive that they are getting some sort of liberation in buying an "Open OS" phone (which is exactly the opposite of reality). But I maintain that the vast majority of people who buy Android do so because of a perception of value.

And to answer the question of what feels unfinished about an Android, I can only speak to my own experience. I've owned several Android devices, and opening the box and turning on an Android phone feels like pulling a Windows machine out and turning it on for the first time. First you have to get rid of all of the crapware that the carrier and hardware manufacturer have put on there, which is really about making them money on the side. Then you have to spend time adding software to make the device reach a useable state. Then you need to spend a great deal of time customizing the interface to make it somewhat useable. In my case, I spent days tweaking my Android devices to get them anywhere near acceptable. But it was never as good as my iOS experience.

To each his own, but I much prefer the walled garden where Apple is working to control the ecosystem and make my overall experience predictable, stable and secure to a hodgepodge multi-vendor collaboration that basically considers me as the buyer of the phone to be an afterthought and a necessary evil in their pursuit of profit.
 
iBug2 said:
Sorry but it seems you weren't an Apple user when Apple almost went bankrupt. I was. And I was afraid that all the time and money investment I made on Apple hardware and software was going into trash. And it can happen again. Nobody can predict what'll happen in 10 years in technology. I certainly don't have the confidence you have in Apple. So yes, I was talking about longevity, for real.
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I was around from the beginning. Thanks.

The past doesn't equal the future. And no - no one can really predict what will happen in 10 years. Even more reason that this chart/prediction is silly. It implies a status quo/trend. Not taking into consideration (like I mentioned in my first post) that what people SAY they are going to buy next is meaningless. Only actual sales counts.

But again - you and I aren't arguing against each other here. It may seem that way because my point is that the OP who instigated this part of the conversation, I believe, using the Apple makes killer profits - so that's all that matters (vs marketshare).

Do you not see that?

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rdlink said:
I've owned several Android devices, and opening the box and turning on an Android phone feels like pulling a Windows machine out and turning it on for the first time. First you have to get rid of all of the crapware that the carrier and hardware manufacturer have put on there, which is really about making them money on the side. Then you have to spend time adding software to make the device reach a useable state. Then you need to spend a great deal of time customizing the interface to make it somewhat useable. In my case, I spent days tweaking my Android devices to get them anywhere near acceptable. But it was never as good as my iOS experience.
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Ok. That's been your experience. I can accept that. I've only owned one Android phone. Samsung Skyrocket. The ATT sofware on there - I don't use. And since Android has an app drawer + home screens - I almost never see them because I don't go into my app drawer.

When I turned on my phone - I entered my gmail account - and the phone was pretty much good to go. I downloaded a few apps I regularly used on my iPhone - and was good to go. Never spent days tweaking nor felt I had to.

So you can say "I" had to. But saying "you" need to isn't accurate. Just like I wouldn't say that with an iPhone "you" have to jailbreak. You don't. Everyone has a different use case. Yours involved heavy tweaking. That's not a rule.
 
It's pretty obvious that iOS will eventually overtake Android now that the market rush is over. In terms of user experience and quality, there is no comparison. If US carriers did not actively push Android over the iPhone (due to higher profit/commission), it would never have led in the first place.
 
rdlink said:
The barebones profits of Windows machines brought us the uninspired hardware, and pitiful customer service that is PC makers such as Dell, HP and others. Better profits has brought us the state of the art hardware and world class customer service that is the Mac ecosystem.
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There have always been PC options that were on par with Apple for quality and design. Nobody wanted to pay for them. THAT is what drives the market for uninspired hardware & pitiful customer service. Companies will make what you want, and not what you don't.

I've owned several Android devices, and opening the box and turning on an Android phone feels like pulling a Windows machine out and turning it on for the first time. First you have to get rid of all of the crapware that the carrier and hardware manufacturer have put on there, which is really about making them money on the side. Then you have to spend time adding software to make the device reach a useable state. Then you need to spend a great deal of time customizing the interface to make it somewhat useable. In my case, I spent days tweaking my Android devices to get them anywhere near acceptable. But it was never as good as my iOS experience.
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That's not my experience at all. Maybe it's because the only Android device I've ever owned was this N4, which is a pure Google creation. It didn't come with any bloatware or carrier crap. I started it up, got a pretty Google logo, and then it asked for my gmail login. Everything in the cloud just like Apple. I even got the music-in-the-cloud functionality without paying for it, just like my iTunes Match.

And then I went into the settings, enabled developer mode, plugged in the USB cable and rooted it. And downloaded the mo' bettah rooty version of the Cisco VPN client. I do wish Apple would quit trying to force us to have only their experience, and instead let us make a choice. Average Joe wouldn't have to be any the wiser.
 
rdlink said:
The barebones profits of Windows machines brought us the uninspired hardware, and pitiful customer service that is PC makers such as Dell, HP and others. Better profits has brought us the state of the art hardware and world class customer service that is the Mac ecosystem.

So yes, a company's profit, at least a company that is forward thinking enough to sink those profits back into insanely great user experience can be important to the customer.

Unfortunately, we as a society often seem to sink down into the Wal-Mart mentality, and shop purely on price, all the while asking our vendors and manufacturers to give us a crappy experience. IMO, this is a great deal of what has happened with Android.

I know there is a relatively tiny group of users out there who want to geek out on their phones, and buy Android because of it. And there is another element of people out there who perceive that they are getting some sort of liberation in buying an "Open OS" phone (which is exactly the opposite of reality). But I maintain that the vast majority of people who buy Android do so because of a perception of value.

And to answer the question of what feels unfinished about an Android, I can only speak to my own experience. I've owned several Android devices, and opening the box and turning on an Android phone feels like pulling a Windows machine out and turning it on for the first time. First you have to get rid of all of the crapware that the carrier and hardware manufacturer have put on there, which is really about making them money on the side. Then you have to spend time adding software to make the device reach a useable state. Then you need to spend a great deal of time customizing the interface to make it somewhat useable. In my case, I spent days tweaking my Android devices to get them anywhere near acceptable. But it was never as good as my iOS experience.

To each his own, but I much prefer the walled garden where Apple is working to control the ecosystem and make my overall experience predictable, stable and secure to a hodgepodge multi-vendor collaboration that basically considers me as the buyer of the phone to be an afterthought and a necessary evil in their pursuit of profit.
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Do you just blindly write this drivel? State of the art? That implies that apple products are on the leading edge of tech. That simply isn't the case.
 
samcraig said:
I was around from the beginning. Thanks.

The past doesn't equal the future. And no - no one can really predict what will happen in 10 years. Even more reason that this chart/prediction is silly. It implies a status quo/trend. Not taking into consideration (like I mentioned in my first post) that what people SAY they are going to buy next is meaningless. Only actual sales counts.

But again - you and I aren't arguing against each other here. It may seem that way because my point is that the OP who instigated this part of the conversation, I believe, using the Apple makes killer profits - so that's all that matters (vs marketshare).

Do you not see that?
Click to expand...

I agree and disagree. What people they are going to buy next is not meaningless. Same as what people say they are going to vote for is not meaningless. Surveys like this are always of importance as long as they are done properly. Sure a lot may change in 2 years, so the more into the future the prediction the more error prone the survey will be. But I wouldn't discard all surveys that try to do that.

But I agree that we are not arguing against each other. I responded to that poster because I hate it when people play the "what's best for the customer" card whenever they want to.

And I don't know where you stand on marketshare vs profits, but I wouldn't count either of them as more important than the other as long as the companies future seems solid. So I'd only worry about Apple losing marketshare because I'd be afraid that if they keep losing marketshare, they'd go bankrupt in the end. So if someone could tell me that Apple would be in business in the next 50 years and producing competitive stuff, I couldn't care less if they have 1% marketshare or 100%.
 
alfistas said:
What about all the paid apps and services you had on the iPhone? I'm trying to comprehend your decision from a financial POV.
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How many paid apps do you own? If it even remotely compares to what you're paying for the phone itself, you're an extreme outlier. You're going to blow a thousand dollars a year on a phone; re-purchasing $50 in apps (which is probably *vastly* more than Average Joe) is irrelevant.
 
rdlink said:
Then you have to spend time adding software to make the device reach a useable state. Then you need to spend a great deal of time customizing the interface to make it somewhat useable. In my case, I spent days tweaking my Android devices to get them anywhere near acceptable. But it was never as good as my iOS experience.
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And still no single example of why it was not usable, why it was not acceptable, etc.
 
ssspinball said:
Continuing that progression, is your next phone purchase going to be down to a phone that only supports EDGE? :p
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lol that was a good one!




cdmoore74 said:
I'm one of those rabid android followers but my wife has an iPhone. For me iOS is not stale because I never use a idevice long enough to truly get bored. For me it's always been hardware. Not only physical hardware but the ability to load different ROMs and have total control over it. It almost feels like what a windows device should have been (I build my own computers).
And this is the problem with believing in false charts that basically tell you that nothing is wrong. Apple is doomed if they follow this.
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Apple has been doomed about 8 times in the last 2 yrs. :rolleyes:
 
iBug2 said:
I agree and disagree. What people they are going to buy next is not meaningless. Same as what people say they are going to vote for is not meaningless. Surveys like this are always of importance as long as they are done properly. Sure a lot may change in 2 years, so the more into the future the prediction the more error prone the survey will be. But I wouldn't discard all surveys that try to do that.

But I agree that we are not arguing against each other. I responded to that poster because I hate it when people play the "what's best for the customer" card whenever they want to.

And I don't know where you stand on marketshare vs profits, but I wouldn't count either of them as more important than the other as long as the companies future seems solid. So I'd only worry about Apple losing marketshare because I'd be afraid that if they keep losing marketshare, they'd go bankrupt in the end. So if someone could tell me that Apple would be in business in the next 50 years and producing competitive stuff, I couldn't care less if they have 1% marketshare or 100%.
Click to expand...

My only point was - if a survey asks what the next phone you're going to buy is - it's not really a good stat. Those that say (for example) are on Android and would switch to an iPhone might have a contract that is up and in the time between now and the new iPhone (if that's what they are going for) - there could be several Android phones that all of the sudden gets them excited. Or maybe they don't care- maybe as soon as their contract is up - they go for the current iPhone. People are fickle. And I can answer that question today - but when my contract is actually up - my answer or actions could be different.

And I get really tired of marketshare/profit discussion on here. When the numbers are in favor one way - the other doesn't matter. And the converse is true as well. Both are important. Equally important? I'm not sure I am qualified to answer that without some heavy researching.

Only have one (as an example) is no guarantee. Any more than having both. As we've said - business can turn on a dime. But if I was a betting man (and I'm generally not) - I'd say that if you want iOS or Android over the next several years, they'll be a phone for you. Both platforms are strong. There are pluses and minuses to both platforms (and to their hardware counterparts).

But you won't hear me cheering about profit margins for any company except those I actually do own stock in. And even then - I don't cheer about profit margins. I cheer about stock prices :)
 
alfistas said:
What about all the paid apps and services you had on the iPhone? I'm trying to comprehend your decision from a financial POV.

Also why couldn't you keep both?
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I am using both, a Nexus 4 and a 4S. There are some apps such as TomTom that I could not afford on the iPhone but I could on the Nexus because they are cheaper, by almost half the cost.
 
I really don't buy this completely, but what do I know? What I DO know is Android blows. It blows so bad other things that blow are saying it blows their blow out of the water, then blows it once again. Good riddance to the Nexus users. Enjoy your device that blows blows blows out of the water.
 
saturn88 said:
First you are trying to lie, now you are trying to insult. Perhaps another "honest mistake"?
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Dude, get a life. How the heck could anyone even have the S4? It's not out. All the news is about S4 so I had it on the tip of my fingers when typing. Really, get a life.
 
samcraig said:
My only point was - if a survey asks what the next phone you're going to buy is - it's not really a good stat. Those that say (for example) are on Android and would switch to an iPhone might have a contract that is up and in the time between now and the new iPhone (if that's what they are going for) - there could be several Android phones that all of the sudden gets them excited. Or maybe they don't care- maybe as soon as their contract is up - they go for the current iPhone. People are fickle. And I can answer that question today - but when my contract is actually up - my answer or actions could be different.
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I'm sure those surveys have a "I'm not sure" option, so the people who said that they'd buy an iPhone probably are keen on that. Sure many would change their minds, but I don't think the majority would, again, as long as the survey is done properly.

samcraig said:
And I get really tired of marketshare/profit discussion on here. When the numbers are in favor one way - the other doesn't matter. And the converse is true as well. Both are important. Equally important? I'm not sure I am qualified to answer that without some heavy researching.
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As long as it's a discussion, I don't have a problem with it. When people start talking nonsense, then I have a problem with it.

samcraig said:
Only have one (as an example) is no guarantee. Any more than having both. As we've said - business can turn on a dime. But if I was a betting man (and I'm generally not) - I'd say that if you want iOS or Android over the next several years, they'll be a phone for you.
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Several years, sure. But 10 years? No clue. And if history is any indication, Android will win the marketshare war just like Windows did. Licensing OS's to several manufacturers seems to win that war. And again, as long as Apple is the game, it doesn't matter what their marketshare is.

samcraig said:
But you won't hear me cheering about profit margins for any company except those I actually do own stock in. And even then - I don't cheer about profit margins. I cheer about stock prices :)
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I wouldn't cheer for profit margins, yet I'm happy to see that they are doing well. I'd only cheer for great products.
 
I've spent a few years with iPhone then went to Android (MyTouch 4G which is the HTC Glacier I think). My next phone is certainly back to an iPhone. For me far less maintenance with hardware and software for the iPhone. It just seems to be built better and work better.
 
rdlink said:
The barebones profits of Windows machines brought us the uninspired hardware, and pitiful customer service that is PC makers such as Dell, HP and others. Better profits has brought us the state of the art hardware and world class customer service that is the Mac ecosystem.

So yes, a company's profit, at least a company that is forward thinking enough to sink those profits back into insanely great user experience can be important to the customer.

Unfortunately, we as a society often seem to sink down into the Wal-Mart mentality, and shop purely on price, all the while asking our vendors and manufacturers to give us a crappy experience. IMO, this is a great deal of what has happened with Android.

To each his own, but I much prefer the walled garden where Apple is working to control the ecosystem and make my overall experience predictable, stable and secure to a hodgepodge multi-vendor collaboration that basically considers me as the buyer of the phone to be an afterthought and a necessary evil in their pursuit of profit.
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to disagree with you a little bit. I think the better hardware and customer service to us brought Apple huge profits. Not the other way around. Do I benefit? Yes. Relative the topic at hand, all companies sink their profits back into making their customers happier. Some spend more than Apple, some less. It's irrelevant.

As for the crappy Android experience you reference, I haven't had that at all. I haven't had a bad experience with my Apple products either. Each has advantages and disadvantages. All of my products, whether they're from Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, or any other vendor, work seamlessly because they perform the function they were design to perform. None of them have any type of higher meaning in my life. Nor should they. They are tools.

To your last statement about evil and such... Apple is no more or less evil than any other company. You may ascribe a higher meaning to your relationship with your Apple products, but that doesn't mean Apple does. Apple IS a for profit business; evidence of that is sitting in foreign banks stacked this high (hand right below my eyeballs). That's not good. It's also not evil. It's benign. As a customer, it affects me in no way.
 
Derpage said:
Do you just blindly write this drivel? State of the art? That implies that apple products are on the leading edge of tech. That simply isn't the case.
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Typical myopic gear head. No, it doesn't imply leading edge. It implies state of the art. You know, what everyone else tries to copy...

Something doesn't have to have 600hp engine under the hood to be state of the art. In fact, pure horsepower is typically the blunt instrument that is used to overcome poor engineering.
 
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