I just have to disagree; let's talk numbers: from Q4 '09 to Q4 '18 Samsung went from 3.3% market share to 18.7% market share. Apple went from 16.1% to 18.4%. Samsung finished highter and showed way more growth.
You are forgetting that Samsung sells a ton of phones. Most of their growth is likely from the sales of cheaper smartphones which barely earn Samsung any profit. Even the cheapest iPhone is still fairly costly relative to the competition.
Now the whole "the same OS powering just about every other smartphone in existence". Is a comman OSS solution bad? The open source OS Linux runs on 97.2% of the World's super computers.
Depends on what we are discussing about.
I am saying that it may not be a good thing from Samsung's perspective because it makes switching from one phone to another easier. You could argue that it's good for the consumer, and it probably is, but the discussion is from the standpoint of Samsung's profitability.
Not to mention that the reality is that Apple is having an easier time keeping its proprietary OS updated on a timely fashion, while Android OEMs are finding it hard to keep their devices updated, between there being too many middlemen interfering, to there just being not much financial incentive to do so.
I guess if I had to put my finger on it, a common OS solution is "bad" here in that it isn't giving me more of what I want, but instead saddling me with more issues to contend with.
Yet you as an individual or any other manufacturer can take, use and modify it to your/their own needs for free; why again is a propriety OS a good thing? It cerainly isn't even remotly winning in market share.
I don't need iOS to win in market share. I just need it to be big enough to hold its own. Its minority market share belies the fact that 14% market share (or whatever that number is these days) is still a very large number of users in an absolute sense (Apple recently reported 900 million active iPhone users). More than enough to sustain its own thriving ecosystem.
Let's look at the benefits I enjoy from iOS again.
The App Store is controlled by Apple, which means that developers have to play by Apple's rules. I find that app quality tends to be better, and many apps tend to be released for iOS first or exclusively. Apple generally does a good job of maintaining their App Store. A much better job than Google, at any rate.
This also means that issues like software piracy and malware is less of a problem, which in turn leads to more people paying for their software, which in turn incentivises developers to want to develop for Apple. For all the complaints of Apple being so strict, people still return to the App Store, for the simple reason that it is where the money is.
For example, Fortnite was available on iOS for many months before it finally came to Android (and even then, Epic pulled a stunt by forcing android users to side load the app and therefore bypassing the security of the App Store. How am I supposedly better off on an "open" platform like Android again in this context? Epic complained about the 30% cut by the Apple Store, and still capitulated and released their app for iOS first.
Another example - I love using apps like overcast and Tweetbot on my iOS devices. Apps which aren't available on Android. So what's the use of having larger market share if it isn't succeeding in getting developers to favour Android over iOS?
At the end of the day, the simple reason is that I just don't need or care for the customisation Android offers me. The ability to modify my Android phone to my wishes - it's just not something I can be bothered with these days.
On the flip side, proprietary is good (for me) as it basically allows Apple to govern their platform in a manner they deem fit, which so happens to be line with my own interests and priorities.
And if your reply is "Apple is the most/first..... etc etc etc" don't bother. Plenty of companies that've failed once did very well indeed.
I agree - nothing lasts forever. Not even Apple.
Let me just get this out there. I don't think that Apple, its products, or its people are infallible. I don't think that Apple's current success necessarily guarantees that it will continue tomorrow and certainly that it won’t forever. Nobody gets to reign forever (thank god!). But we shouldn’t be so proud (or jaded) as to not recognise and applaud when it’s happening.
And that's what gets me so enthusiastic about Apple right now - being able to bear witness to a sustained reign of excellence by Apple. Despite their various missteps, or perhaps, because of them (who is to say that the success of products like the Apple Watch and AirPods were not due to Apple prioritising them over the Mac?).
