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Samsung and Apple Continue to Dominate Smartphone Market, But iOS Market Share Falls
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Highly Reliability + Small Hardware Changes = No Upgrade
Not surprised. I spoke to many people who have iPhone 4 or 4s and did not jump to upgrade to 5, even though they are eligible for it. For many of them it seems that their existing iPhone is still a great device, and the 5 did not have them jumping up and down and running to upgrade (the way the 4 made had them when they moved from a 3G or 3Gs). So no dice.
Not surprised. I spoke to many people who have iPhone 4 or 4s and did not jump to upgrade to 5, even though they are eligible for it. For many of them it seems that their existing iPhone is still a great device, and the 5 did not have them jumping up and down and running to upgrade (the way the 4 made had them when they moved from a 3G or 3Gs). So no dice.
It will never happen but if Apple let other manufacturers install iOS on their phones and sell all different models and sizes of phones, Android will probably die that day.
Apple is NOT like Ferrari. Only people who have excess money can buy a Ferrari, where anyone can buy an iPhone. I see people who can't afford to pay their rent buying iPhones, usually the iPhone 4 for 99 cents.
A Ferrari does MORE in every way than a lesser car can do, mostly go faster. You can not say a iPhone does more than a higher end Android.
What I don't get is why people get bent out of shape if Apple isn't the only dominate producer of phones. Why can't there be a few top phones of different shapes and sizes that are great with a few pluses and minuses? The iPhone is great no doubt, but so are a few other premium Android phones.
It would seem people would want to have the iPhone and a few other premium Android phones pushing the edge of tech. In the end it's good for the consumer no matter your preference of OS.
Competition is good for the consumer and that is what you should be cheering for.
Which is why the thing that counts is the market share in _total_ phone sales. And there, Apple's market share is growing.
Actually, sales are growing massively. Phone market share is growing. The change is that a huge number of people who bought cheap phones and always bought cheap phones suddenly ended up owning a smartphone.
If people switched from a $100 feature phone to a $100 Android phone, how does that matter to Apple? How does it matter for example to software developers, if you have huge number of Androids owned by people who are using their phone for phone calls and nothing else, and who never in a million years will be buying a single app?
If people switched from a $100 feature phone to a $100 Android phone, how does that matter to Apple? How does it matter for example to software developers, if you have huge number of Androids owned by people who are using their phone for phone calls and nothing else, and who never in a million years will be buying a single app?
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Highlighted above is the reason I find myself carrying both an iPhone 5 and now a Samsung Note 2 which I use as a hotspot but find myself doing most of my email, browsing on as the pull down options to change brightness, wifi, BT setting is so much quicker than digging thru the iOS menu system. Apple already copied the notifications from Android just flush it out with setting already.
I have years and $$ invested in the Apple eco system and still love the platform for it's stability and consistency but iOS needs to breakout and evolve as an OS for smartphones. Android 4.1 on the Note 2 anyhow has become very fluid and it's hard to point out faults with the OS or the hardware Samsung is putting out.
Personally I'm torn between the 5.55" size and the 4" on the iPhone 5 while equally torn between the OS features each brings to the table. The deciding line is defiantly getting blurry. I am not a die hard fan of any company, but I am a early adopter of great technology and enjoy all kinds of gadgets. Apple is still doing what it does best, but Samsung has brought some technology to smart phones that once you use it, it's tough to dismiss.
I've seen no indication that Apple is planning to make significant changes to iOS in the near future. I'm afraid they may take the road that several companies have taken after being dominant for awhile--which is that they become enclosed in a bubble and become afraid to change anything. I hope that I'm wrong but if iOS7 adds some useless features without changing or adding to the static grid of icons and blank lockscreen then we'll all know what's in store for Apple.
Agreed. And we know that the marketshare is plenty large enough to continue being developer's main focus because the Apps run across iPod Touch and iPads, and also Developers sell to the still being used and the updated to latest OS iOS devices like the 3Gs and the iPad 1. The total market of still functional and being used iOS devices is enormous. It seems unlikely that that is going to change anytime soon.
And note that though market share dropped a bit, total sales grew dramatically.
A 200 dollar phone made in china is nothing like a Ferrari.
iOS is more like a scooter engine in a Toyota.
No it's not, ferrari will not goto a corner and die if its market share drops to 0.1%. The whole basis for smartphone including iphone is their ecosystem, which is 100% dependent on market share.
When you start losing users, companies scale back making apps for the ecosystem, then users see the competitor has more apps and jump ship, rinse & repeat. It's a vicious cycle that once started, will be very difficult to stop. Just look at how much trouble microsoft/nokia has trying to break in, even though phone7 core os isnt bad at all.
iOS is obviously nowhere close to this yet, but it's ludicrous to say iOS/iphone are not impacted by market share. Market share is EVERYTHING to a smartphone/mobile ecosystem. Every single app maker that makes up your os is looking at this report and using it to figure out where to release their next app first.
I still don't see how android is stepping over IOS? These numbers are based on Apples one phone (iPhone) and all the cheaper phones that android is on.
Most people getting the cheaper phones is not choosing between IOS and android, they are just getting the cheaper phones. If Apple made NEW cheaper phones, then they would have a choice.
> Comparing *total* iPhone sales to total Android sales:
Comparing iPhone sales to sales of higher-end Android phones that actually compete with iPhone would be relevant. I'll bet the gap in sales would be a lot smaller.
There are lots of cheap Android phones being sold. Heck, you can still buy cheap phones with Android OS 2.3. These phone sales have no bearing on iPhone sales - they are being sold on price and are not a sale taken away from Apple.
There will always be a lot of buyers who buy based on price. Get used to it, people. Gnasher is right. It doesn't mean Apple is failing.
Why? You can buy an iPhone for .99. And it means just what it means, Apple's market share decreased regardless of how many phones they sold.
again false.
apple has cheaper phones at every price level starting at free just like android. All running the same ios.
Android and samsung is innovating at full speed and killing apple in those commercials. The only big thing came out of the iphone was a slighter bigger screen last year, their other big feature the map was a disaster and had a negative impact.
Just look at those commercials, when iphone first came it was a showstopper, now the best they can do is touting a "do not disturb" button and how the caller can hear your voice...during a phone call.
It's laughable.
Meanwhile samsung is killing it with their commercials touting nfs transfers, stylus doing all sorts of cool stuff, etc...
Apple stopped innovating on their iphone, or rather tried and failed. That's fact.
Many people including myself like iphone because it's simple and works out of box, but that will only carry you so far until a tipping point is reached where the features and innovations on the competitor is just too much to resist.
Apple sales are growing but Apple's market share is shrinking. That's the main point of this article. And if iOS market share continues dropping very soon the sales will start dropping too because iOS will be perceived as a niche OS by developers.
There are a lot of Android phones and Tablet being sold for pennies, practically giveaways. And there are lots of people who that's all they can afford.
Maybe this is the reason why.
Remember: quantity doesn't make up for quality.
Maybe this is the reason why.
Remember: quantity doesn't make up for quality.