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Is the iPhone's popularity on a rapid decline?

likemyorbs

likemyorbs

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 20, 2008
1,956
5
NJ
I have an iPhone 4, and wouldn't trade it for any handset on the market. But lately it seems like all my friends getting new phones aren't even considering the iphone anymore. My sister works at a Verizon and says she hardly sells any iphones, same goes for ipads. she sold 2 galaxy tabs yesterday but no ipads. She says verizon is really pushing the sales people to sell tablets too, even more so than phones because they are a new category. Anyway, i'm just wondering if the iphone's days of being THE smartphone that sets standards for all smartphones are coming to an end. It used to be the iphone was the best for its app store, not so much anymore, the android app store is pretty packed these days too. What do you guys think? I love the iOS platform and wouldn't switch to android, but im feeling increasingly alone.
 
Almost every other person I know or see at my school has an iPhone. Or they would want one but are on a different carrier, or just want BBM.

It seems like they are still the "thing to have"

But I don't think iOS is the leading smartphone platform as it was back in 07. Competition is catching up quick. (though I still like IOS the best)

and you shouldn't feel alone about anything. just buy whatever you want
 
That why it is my opinion that the new iphone 4G will be a ground breaker. It will kick android ass to the ground. :)
 
bachelier said:
That why it is my opinion that the new iphone 4G will be a ground breaker. It will kick android ass to the ground. :)
Click to expand...

I certainly hope so! But by the time they decide to finally release that a lot of people will be switched to android because they got sick of waiting. My real worry is that a lot of developers will develop for android first and iOS second. That would blow.
 
likemyorbs said:
I certainly hope so! But by the time they decide to finally release that a lot of people will be switched to android because they got sick of waiting. My real worry is that a lot of developers will develop for android first and iOS second. That would blow.
Click to expand...

It seems like history repeats itself for apple again but with a different company now. Remember the Mac was the first to use WYSIWYG platform and the mouse yet Microsoft sold its OS to different hardware producer and got 80% of the market share. It's a shame because like you said, it will blow to loose the number 1 spot.
 
bachelier said:
It seems like history repeats itself for apple again but with a different company now. Remember the Mac was the first to use WYSIWYG platform and the mouse yet Microsoft sold its OS to different hardware producer and got 80% of the market share. It's a shame because like you said, it will blow to loose the number 1 spot.
Click to expand...

Yep. And it seems like its already happened, the iphone is quickly becoming a niche device. It's really a shame. But i don't think apple will almost die this time around, for many reasons.


Posted from my Clamshell iBook G3 running Mac OS 9.2.1
 
Completely the opposite. Here in Canada, almost every single person owned a blackberry about a year ago. And when I say almost every single person, I mean about 90% of them. Now, I see the majority switching to the iPhone. The iPhone is going no where but up.
 
The iPhone is selling more and more every year.

Simple fact:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/01/chart-iphone-sales-by-quarter/69746/

Ok, so Apple's never gonna have more than 20% of the market? So what? That will still make them one of the largest vendors and most likely the most profitable by a long run. When you've got that going for you then you don't close up shop.

Those who say "Well, the Mac was popular and it lost!" are woefully ignorant of history. The Mac was NEVER as popular or successful as the iPhone currently is. The idea that Apple "had it all" and then "suddenly lost it" is a fairy tale. The Mac was a head of its time technologically...it was never a huge front-runner market-share wise.

So let's stop with the talk about mistakes repeated. Apple has never been in this position anytime in their past. And you're being negligent if you forget all the iPod Touches and iPads out there. No, they're not phones, but they add to the iOS ecosystem and make the whole thing more popular. No other phone platform has anything like the iPad...bringing tons of new customers to iOS...which is only going to become more and more important as time goes on.

The iPhone will be just fine.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_6 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E200 Safari/6533.18.5)

Sure, the iPhone is nice and tons of people have it but lately I've been noticing the same thing. People are beginning to direct their attention to the new android smartphones. And why shouldn't they? They're actually really nice. Still, I wouldn't say the iPhone is getting less popular; I just think Apple needs to step their game up soon or else then we might see a decline.
 
I've had 5 different Blackberries over the years, 4 Androids since the original Motorola Droid (most recently the Thunderbolt on my business line) and I just recently purchased an iPhone on my personal line.

The Blackberries were always rock solid email/messaging machines but RIM's OS is so dated nowadays.

Android is cool and all, but it's still very rough around the edges.
The Market is nowhere close to the App Store, battery sucks on ALL the Androids, no display can compete with the Retina display and none of the cameras are as good.

Apple brings the entire package.
Great hardware
Great software.
There are some shortcomings with the iPhone, it's not perfect, but it's damn good.

So, is the iPhone popularity going down?
I would say the iPhone GROWTH is slowing but it's still THE phone to have.

[delivered by an iPhone]
 
likemyorbs said:
I love the iOS platform and wouldn't switch to android, but im feeling increasingly alone.
Click to expand...

Well, you're not. A lot of folks are turning to Android, especially with the sub-$200 handsets and the 'allure' of an 'open' ecosystem. Unfortunately, many of them quickly return with their tales of the grass not always being greener on the other side.

iOS remains far and away the best mobile operating system. Period. I engage with various Android phones from time to time and always walk away feeling they are getting better, but just nowhere near prime time. The tablet scene is even worse, with the Honeycomb source-code debacle and lack of native apps.
 
When I had my 1st iphone, I was the only one I knew that had one. When I had my 3G, one other friend had one. Now that I have a 4, every friend of mine has one - and many co-workers as well. Based on my experience I think the popularity is growing.
 
-aggie- said:
Why do people care if the iPhone is the cool thing, as long as it does what you need? Also, before you even worry about this, wait for the iPhone 5.
Click to expand...

It's not that i care about how cool it is. I just don't want iOS to come second to android in the minds of software developers. For example, cablevision just released the Optimum app for iPad which allows me to watch live tv anywhere in my house, and even over 3G now since i set up a VPN connection to my home network. They released it right away for iOS, it's not out for android yet. I'm worried that in a couple of years it will be the other way around.
 
In answer to the OP's original question: No. No offense to your anecdotal evidence, but the verizon iphone sold more units than any other phone last quarter, and the ipad 2 is selling at a record rate. So again, no, not in decline and certainly not "rapid" decline.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)

Happens every year. Once the iPhone begins reaching it's end of cycle more of the new phones from other companies begin selling. Then we'll get the people saying, "The new _____ from _______ blows the iPhone (which came out last summer) out of the water. I'm getting it tomorrow". Which will be followed by these people posting a week later how much they like the iPhone better and they want to know if they should just switch back or wait for the next one.

Just a trend I see.
 
likemyorbs said:
It's not that i care about how cool it is. I just don't want iOS to come second to android in the minds of software developers. For example, cablevision just released the Optimum app for iPad which allows me to watch live tv anywhere in my house, and even over 3G now since i set up a VPN connection to my home network. They released it right away for iOS, it's not out for android yet. I'm worried that in a couple of years it will be the other way around.
Click to expand...


As long as the App Store keeps doing as well as it is, I doubt developers are going anywhere.
 
Small White Car said:
The iPhone is selling more and more every year.

Simple fact:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/01/chart-iphone-sales-by-quarter/69746/

Ok, so Apple's never gonna have more than 20% of the market? So what? That will still make them one of the largest vendors and most likely the most profitable by a long run. When you've got that going for you then you don't close up shop.

Those who say "Well, the Mac was popular and it lost!" are woefully ignorant of history. The Mac was NEVER as popular or successful as the iPhone currently is. The idea that Apple "had it all" and then "suddenly lost it" is a fairy tale. The Mac was a head of its time technologically...it was never a huge front-runner market-share wise.

So let's stop with the talk about mistakes repeated. Apple has never been in this position anytime in their past. And you're being negligent if you forget all the iPod Touches and iPads out there. No, they're not phones, but they add to the iOS ecosystem and make the whole thing more popular. No other phone platform has anything like the iPad...bringing tons of new customers to iOS...which is only going to become more and more important as time goes on.

The iPhone will be just fine.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with you.
The iPhone 4 was the most sold iPhone yet! And i bet you anything the iPhone 5 will pass that mark as well (provided they launch it in June/July).
 
I also believe the iPhone is becoming more popular, I still meet people who have never used one and when they do they want to go out and buy one almost the same day...

I am also meeting people daily who not only have not seen an iPad before but some have never even heard of them.
 
-aggie- said:
Why do people care if the iPhone is the cool thing,
Click to expand...

Because Apple places it's focus on promoting its products as trendy and cool. The iPhones doing well even if it's getting boring with the same old screens. It's just how it is.

Apple's true expertise is selling anything they want.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)

maclaptop said:
Because Apple places it's focus on promoting its products as trendy and cool. The iPhones doing well even if it's getting boring with the same old screens. It's just how it is.

Apple's true expertise is selling anything they want.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure the iPhone 4 has a completely new screen that looks incredible.

Bigger does not always equal better.
 
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