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iPhone with 28% of U.S. Smartphone Marketshare for Q4 2007

milo said:
What's not fair? He knew that prices would probably drop, and features added. He made a "never" prediction - knowing all the facts or not, that's pretty boneheaded.
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Maybe he words things badly, but go back and look at his quote. He specifically pointed out the price as the main issue. His point was that the price of the iPhone was going to be a hindrance to its sales. Given that Apple dropped the price so soon after the iPhone's announcement, I would say Ballmer was exactly right.

Again, I'm not a fan of the guy, but the way some Apple fans seem so eager to hang that quote around his neck like an albatross is embarrassing. He was right. The price was a problem.

To me, that quote is embarrassing for him for entirely different reasons. The way he said it sounded really dismissive of a competitor that they have learned is not to be underestimated anymore. Secondly, that fakey humor he exhibits when he talks about competition gives off a vaguely desperate and defensive tone--not a very becoming quality for the CEO of the biggest software company on the planet.

I always feel sorry for MS employees. Ballmer must be like that crazy uncle every family has to suffer through on every holiday, the one you tolerate because he's your uncle, but still, you wish he would just shut up. :p
 
inkswamp said:
I think if the iPhone were still available for the original price without all the features and quality-enhancements that were made public at the last-minute, Ballmer's prediction would have pretty much been dead-on accurate.
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yes, but to anyone with an ounce of common sense (which balmer has none) it should have been obvious that the price drops and extra features were to appear.
 
HailToTheVictor said:
Are we talking OSX, meaning all versions? or just 10.5? If it is the whole series compared to vista, it might be actually close...
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People are talking about OS X on iPhone, OS X on iPod Touch, OS X on Apple TV and OS X Leopard which runs on 'regular' computers. Vista only operates on 'regular' computers. This gives Apple the potential to outsell devices running their OS X over devices running Vista. That could mean a larger part of the market recognizes the OS X brand and Apple continues to gain market share from that knowledge.

How many average buyers currently know that OS X runs on all of those other devices. They just know Apple makes cool devices and the number one selling music player. If Apple can educate the public that the OS X platform is a positive over its competitors in the markets it is selling to, it could help with their market share gains even further.

Some see this as the beginning of one platform on all device classes. From the smallest handheld to the super computer. You could say that BSD Unix and Linux have already been there, but that fact tends to be hidden and the products not as user friendly, so far. In a few years from now, Apple maybe able to offer the consumer and corporate buyers a friendly usable computer in all sizes with the full install of OS X. Oh, and developers will write their code once, with the exception of user interface extensions to account for.

In 2015 I'll have the full power I want for a home computer and will use my iPhone when away from home. I'll roll out my keyboard and mouse pad if I want to do some real work in iWork or the corporate database application, and yes, even edit an iMovie, but most of the time I'll be happy using the basics of web browsing, e-mail, music playback and phone calls. And syncing will be at an all time high of usability too. :D
 
Kar98 said:
Well, and what's the iPhone's marketshare not on "smartphones", but on PDA phones? :rolleyes:
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So what's the difference?

inkswamp said:
Maybe he words things badly, but go back and look at his quote. He specifically pointed out the price as the main issue. His point was that the price of the iPhone was going to be a hindrance to its sales. Given that Apple dropped the price so soon after the iPhone's announcement, I would say Ballmer was exactly right.
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"It's sort of a funny question. Would I trade 96% of the market for 4% of the market? (Laughter.) I want to have products that appeal to everybody. Now we'll get a chance to go through this again in phones and music players. There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60% or 70% or 80% of them, than I would to have 2% or 3%, which is what Apple might get."

Not "...unless they lower the price". He made a prediction, and in hindsight, it turned out to be idiotic. Maybe he was assuming that the price wouldn't drop (a monumentally stupid assumption if that was the case). Maybe that's why MS missed the boat on MP3 players so bad, they thought the iPod would never catch on because they forgot that prices would go down and features/capacities go up over time.

Many people here (myself included) said that they wouldn't sell a ton at $499...but we realized that that's an early adopter price and that sales would go up as the price dropped. It's not rocket science.

However you want to spin it, he was wrong. Period. Maybe he'll be more careful in the future with what he says. But I doubt it.
 
xStep said:
People are talking about OS X on iPhone, OS X on iPod Touch, OS X on Apple TV and OS X Leopard which runs on 'regular' computers. Vista only operates on 'regular' computers. This gives Apple the potential to outsell devices running their OS X over devices running Vista. That could mean a larger part of the market recognizes the OS X brand and Apple continues to gain market share from that knowledge.
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That seems like an unfair comparison, as the version of OS X my iPhone is running is a stripped down (read: different) version of OS X than what my Macbook is using.
But,
[judge mills lane from celebrity deathmatch] I'll allow it![judge mills lane from celebrity deathmatch]
As it enables me to sleep easier at night.
 
diamond.g said:
That seems like an unfair comparison, as the version of OS X my iPhone is running is a stripped down (read: different) version of OS X than what my Macbook is using.
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To be fair, then all versions of Windows should be counted as well - Windows 4.0, Windows 5.0, Windows 5.1, Windows 6.0, Windows CE, Windows Mobile, ...

There's probably as big a gap between OSX 10.0 and 10.5 as there is between Windows 5.0 and Windows 6.0.
 
steve_bigbrother_jobs.jpg


Anyone remember apple's macintosh commercial in 1984, opposing Big Brother? The more I see apple products plastered everywhere, the more I feel like violently launching my mac out my window.
 
gifford said:
How long until OSX outnumbers Vista on new devices? Not long at this growth and the 3G phone hasn't even been released yet. And when it does.. whooooooosh

Im sure somebody will point out the recent growth of Vista , problem is its not sustainable, whereas OSX has only just begun.
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Thank you for giving me the biggest laugh of the day.
 
cschulz said:
How do you guys feel about this:
http://gizmodo.com/341287/windows-mobile-7-details-leaked-+-multi+touch-motion-gestures
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/06/is-this-windows-mobile-7/

It looks as though MSFT is looking to make a copy of the iPhone, which is pretty much expected. I'm so disappointed in MSFT. They're just so pathetic... But I don't think it'll be out for atleast another year. Apple should be way ahead while they're catching up. Typical.
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And it's only going to take them until 2009 to get it out. Nah, the iPhone won't have improved at all by then...
 
cschulz said:
How do you guys feel about this:
http://gizmodo.com/341287/windows-mobile-7-details-leaked-+-multi+touch-motion-gestures
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/06/is-this-windows-mobile-7/

It looks as though MSFT is looking to make a copy of the iPhone, which is pretty much expected. I'm so disappointed in MSFT. They're just so pathetic... But I don't think it'll be out for atleast another year. Apple should be way ahead while they're catching up. Typical.
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Has competition ever been a bad thing for YOU, the consumer? Or would you rather live in a one dimensional world infested and overwhelmed by a single dominating force without alternatives?

Yah, go <insert random company name here> and take 100% control of the entire market and then screw over the consumer by having a closed system.
 
milo said:
And it's only going to take them until 2009 to get it out. Nah, the iPhone won't have improved at all by then...
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I don't think MS are the competition. I suspect Nokia, SE and the rest will have models out long before then.
 
gifford said:
not everyone is blessed with foresight

read xStep's post above, he gets it.
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Not everyone is blessed with an understanding of the markets either. You can speculate all you want but Apple are still a niche player worldwide. You really should look at the market share reports before making silly statements.

Also, as others have pointed out, xStep is incorrect because he implies that the version of OSX used on each device is homogeneous which they're not in the same way that Windows Mobile isn't the same as Windows Vista.
 
BongoBanger said:
Not everyone is blessed with an understanding of the markets either. You can speculate all you want but Apple are still a niche player worldwide. You really should look at the market share reports before making silly statements.
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You realize that if Apple can get just 10% of mobile phone sales, OSX will be more prevalent than windows full stop? Lets not forget every iPhone, every AppleTV, every other lifestyle device on the cards will have OSX running. Lets not forget that Apple are currently only selling iPhones to a small proportion of the planet. Lets not forget that Apples traditional computers and laptops are slowly eating away at windows market share.


Lets not forget the fact that technology moves on (most people in my experience have a great difficulty here), all those lifestyle devices become more powerful and become proper computers in their own right, through the back door Apple has created one of the widest used OS's on the planet.
And lets not forget that prices come down! Markets that are unthinkable now will be fully attainable tomorrow, products similar to the iPhone will eventually be affordable to the masses.
 
ungraphic said:
Has competition ever been a bad thing for YOU, the consumer?
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Durrr, of course. When the manufacturers compete on producing things cheaper and/or fall into featuritis, rather than producing a superior product.

Doc Marten's competes with Walmart brand shoes, and the result is Doc Martens produces shoddy crap in China, rather than quality boots made in England.

Computer manufacturers move their customer support to India, to get a better profit margin than their competition, the result is useless tech support. Apple tried that too a year or so ago, except they're small enough to be bullied into reversing that decision, which they did.

VW's Lopez tried to stay competitive by buying the cheapest components possible, and forced suppliers into producing cheaper yet. The result was 60% decrease in market share on the US market, because the product was plain garbage.

Do you have any other questions? :D
 
gifford said:
You realize that if Apple can get just 10% of mobile phone sales, OSX will be more prevalent than windows full stop? Lets not forget every iPhone, every AppleTV, every other lifestyle device on the cards will have OSX running.
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EDIT: Until OS X is found on more than just Apple devices it won't matter.
 
ungraphic said:
Has competition ever been a bad thing for YOU, the consumer? Or would you rather live in a one dimensional world infested and overwhelmed by a single dominating force without alternatives?
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True competition is a good thing. What is best for the consumer is when a company sees a product and figures out a way to top it.

MS doesn't do that much, they just copycat existing products. And they do it way late. That really doesn't have any benefit for the consumer.

BongoBanger said:
Not everyone is blessed with an understanding of the markets either. You can speculate all you want but Apple are still a niche player worldwide. You really should look at the market share reports before making silly statements.

Also, as others have pointed out, xStep is incorrect because he implies that the version of OSX used on each device is homogeneous which they're not in the same way that Windows Mobile isn't the same as Windows Vista.
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Apple is a niche player with iPods? And with the results apple has seen in such a short time with the iPhone, you think apple will remain a niche player in that market?

And xStep doesn't imply that the version of OSX is the same, you're reading something that isn't there.

gifford said:
You realize that if Apple can get just 10% of mobile phone sales, OSX will be more prevalent than windows full stop?
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Is 10% realistic? Especially when so many phones are just the cheapest most basic ones, often given away free? What percentage of the phone market is smartphones?
 
I wish Apple would have the same market share MS has (overall). I really want to see how the Cupertino company would handle themselves with that much power. It would also be interesting to see if Apple develops monopolistic practices to keep that market lead.
 
diamond.g said:
EDIT: Until OS X is found on more than just Apple devices it won't matter.
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Why ? a few years down the line, the 'popular' OS wont be windows, nor OSX, its highly likely to be Android.
Apple can survive in an android dominated world, windows declines.

As I said on another thread, I would hazard a guess that the most popular OS is currently not windows and most probably Symbian, which if you dont know, is a mobile OS. IMO it wont survive the push towards 'smarter' phones.
 
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