There was (and still is) a huge mass of people who had never owned or even used a smartphone (with apps and Internet) before. And another mass of people who had only used old BlackBerry-style devices, before Apple came out with the iPhone: capacitive touchscreen, iOS, and all the UI methods and functionality that were never done (or never done well) before the iPhone. Once the iPhone was out, others could copy it, and even a weak, late copy could be SO much better than pre-iPhone devices.
So those masses of people were well served by Android, pushed out by multiple manufacturers and carriers. A “sort of” iPhone with fewer/later apps, a less-polished and easy-to-use interface, poor battery performance, and hardware models made obsolete at breakneck speed as the handset makers fail to offer updates. Yet this was still truly AWESOME compared to pre-iPhone phones. Any one of us would be glad to have an Android phone, even the early ones, if we’d never been iPhone owners to know the difference!
Android has a huge market to tap of people who have never used iOS and don’t know better, or who simply can’t get the iPhone in their area/carrier. With all those companies selling Android devices (that aren’t even compatible with each other), Android’s growth was bound to exceed Apple, especially when limited to AT&T in the US.
But that doesn’t go forever. Android users may eventually try an iPhone, and that’s much more likely to be a one-way street. My Android-fan friends don’t “live” on their Android units the way I live on my iPhone. They don’t make it their computing home, with all their stuff; and that’s OK, because they don’t use their phones for music, and their other “stuff” is mainly online and can be reached from any web browser. Therefore, they give up one Android phone for another often (always looking for the “good one” around the corner). They don’t miss that their old phone is gone with all their stuff and all their settings. Whereas I have awesome apps and games that I use every day, far more than they do and far better experiences. I have dozens of organized folders, Smart Playlists just how I want them, and every setting customized. I’ve made the iPhone my home, and when I get a new iPhone EVERYTHING transfers over. My mobile “home” is preserved, with zero effort. Android cannot offer that.
Then there’s the iPad, running the same OS and apps as iPhone. And the mini-tablet iPod Touch—perfect for “dumbphone” users. Both runaway successes, neither matched even remotely by anything Android. People like their stuff to be compatible, all work the same, and use the same apps with one purchase. iPad and Touch owners are going to prefer iPhone—and those people are many and growing. iPad + iPod + iPhone is all one platform, in a way you simply can’t say about all the Android phone lumped together, much less the Android tablets and music players, if any happen to succeed.
What incentive do I have to switch to Android, lose my “home” and all my stuff, settle for second-best app versions, lose iPad-compatibility, and have poor battery life? None. Very, very few people (yes, some) will switch from iPhone to Android and be happy about it. Especially when you look at real, everyday people—not tech forum-goers who are happy to troubleshoot, and manually manage battery usage, and supply their own security. Yet MANY people who
switch from Android to iPhone will be happy. It’s not that some people are better off with Android and some with iPhone—it’s not equal halves. MOST people are better served by iPhone. And some will find that out.
That means Android’s market to claim is some percent of those who have never used an iPhone-style phone before.
But iPhone’s market is those same people PLUS Android users.
