The Rumored iPhablets Expected In 2014 Will Not Save Apple's Bacon

[Sil_liS]

I don't see why people are worried by Apple's marker share. It looks like is has been going pretty steady:


Apple had a slight increase in market share at the end of 2011 (when it released the iPhone 4s) and then it slowly lost the advantage.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I don't see why people are worried by Apple's marker share. It looks like is has been going pretty steady:


Apple had a slight increase in market share at the end of 2011 (when it released the iPhone 4s) and then it slowly lost the advantage.

This makes for a good read: Apple is blowing it

These 2 graphs are particularly telling:

[Graham]

Originally Posted by pl001

It's not that there won't be money to be made, it's that there will be more money to be made elsewhere. It's no different than what happened with Blackberry or what happens now with Windows RT/Phone.

Sorry, it is different. Blackberry were clearly losing customers fast, and Windows RT/Phone haven't yet gained them.

As I said, I agree that developers will switch to developing for Android first, but I disagree that they will stop developing for iOS at all (which is what is being implied) while the current number of users exist, regardless of Apple's market share.

Graham

[pl001]

Originally Posted by Graham

Sorry, it is different. Blackberry were clearly losing customers fast, and Windows RT/Phone haven't yet gained them.

As I said, I agree that developers will switch to developing for Android first, but I disagree that they will stop developing for iOS at all (which is what is being implied) while the current number of users exist, regardless of Apple's market share.

Graham

Blackberry was increasing sales while losing market share for some time. Windows has more customers today than iOS did a few years ago, yet the app selection is not comparable.

I didn't mean to imply that all development will stop. But if the current trend continues I believe there will be a large reduction in the quality and quantity of new apps compared to Android.

[Penforhire]

I agree the Android marketplace is catching up. Google also continues to offer incredible value in their own Nexus series hardware. But unless Google puts more constraints on Android hardware I have a hard time believing they will achieve app quality parity. Android app developers have to code for way more variation in hardware than iOS developers.

Apple's early jump to 64 bit hardware is going to continue that advantage, as the OS will be stable (in terms of coding for it) for more years to come. The hardware is also wickedly fast and energy efficient (not much because of 64 bit but because of the big step in A-series CPU instruction efficiency).

I hope they allow a little more weight in the next phone for a larger battery.

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

But unless Google puts more constraints on Android hardware I have a hard time believing they will achieve app quality parity. Android app developers have to code for way more variation in hardware than iOS developers.

This is a common refrain heard from many of the Apple faithful, but it ends up often they have either no first-hand experience with this and are just repeating things read ... or their experience is with an earlier dated device with an older version of Android on it. Since the days of Froyo and Gingerbread, Android and its apps have grown up very quickly and the user experience has improved dramatically in just a short time. I don't think the quality for major apps between the two platforms is all that different today.

Can you even name a current app that displays a marked difference in quality between the two platforms?

In addition, for many, the look of the system GUI is just as important as the look of the apps, and that is where I think Android has a huge advantage over iOS, especially since i0S7. Apple's claim for providing a superior visual experience also takes a big hit considering they allowed screens with markedly inferior color gamut to be put on their two premium-priced Mini tabs.

--Pat

[CommonReader]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

The Mini, as wel as the new Pro, look very cool and very small, until you set them up: then it's just a big a mess as any other computer, except if you take special care to fix the cables.

This commercial still says it all:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hnOCUkbix0

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by CommonReader

This commercial still says it all:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hnOCUkbix0

Hehe. I know that one. I think it's not actually a commercial, just a parody made by someone.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by afv011

This makes for a good read: Apple is blowing it

These 2 graphs are particularly telling:

So is this article http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/...-data-on-apple which also includes some interesting information on IDC and Gartner... I don't expect any factual points to influence either side in the Apple/Android wars but I suppose we should be grateful to both sides for their entertainment value even if it is getting a bit jaded now...

[leebase]

Samsung reported that of the 250million phones they sold, only 100million were "premium" (the type that compete with the iPhone). Apple sold 150million iPhones in the same period. What is happening is the very low end phones are exploding in sales in China and around the world as feature phone replacements. These are not customers who were ever going to buy iPhones.

Apple makes 56% of all profits in mobile phones (not just smartphones). Samsung makes the other 53%. Doesn't add up? Yeah, because all the other companies are actually LOSING money. And yet Apple's "bacon needs to be saved"? Sure. And this is ALREADY with Android having an 80% share of the market. Even so Apple is still walking away with over half the profits...with no "phablet" to "compete".

The coming quarter is going to be HUGE for Apple. Japan's largest telecom, Docomo, finally started carrying the iPhone. In just then 9 days with the release of the iPhone 5S, the iPhone has taken 37% share in Japan which is more than any other phone in history. So this will be the first full quarter of sales for Docomo.

And in December China Mobile is going to launch their LTE service in and the iPhone is the marquee launch phone. CM has more customers than all the US telecoms combined and has never sold the iPhone. Starting mid Dec. they will.

Even with all this, Apple's share of smartphones will continue to decline because the low end is exploding. Apple's sales are still growing quite nicely. And this quarter and next are going to be blockbusters.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by elcreative

So is this article http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/...-data-on-apple which also includes some interesting information on IDC and Gartner... I don't expect any factual points to influence either side in the Apple/Android wars but I suppose we should be grateful to both sides for their entertainment value even if it is getting a bit jaded now...

Interesting article, but to argue that the low end tablets shouldn't be included in the stats because they're low end... seems wrong to me. They're still proper tablets, even if they're rubbish, and there's clearly a market for them.

Graham

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by elcreative

So is this article http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/...-data-on-apple which also includes some interesting information on IDC and Gartner... I don't expect any factual points to influence either side in the Apple/Android wars but I suppose we should be grateful to both sides for their entertainment value even if it is getting a bit jaded now...

This sounds to me like a rant. The author considers that:
- separating tablets from PCs is wrong,
- not separating into market niches is wrong,
- separating media tablets from eink devices and devices based on x86 processors is wrong,
- not separating based on tier is wrong.

This sounds paranoid:

all three major market research firms rapidly fire off headline bullets clearly aimed at wounding the perception of Apple's tablet.

And this sounds delusional:

everyone who bought a generic MP3 player did so only to not buy an iPod

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by Graham

Interesting article, but to argue that the low end tablets shouldn't be included in the stats because they're low end... seems wrong to me. They're still proper tablets, even if they're rubbish, and there's clearly a market for them.

Graham

And the sales of Reliant Robins should be directly compared to the sale of Ferraris... and my last point, "I don't expect any factual points to influence either side in the Apple/Android wars but I suppose we should be grateful to both sides for their entertainment value even if it is getting a bit jaded now... " gets confirmed...

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

This sounds to me like a rant. The author considers that:
- separating tablets from PCs is wrong,
- not separating into market niches is wrong,
- separating media tablets from eink devices and devices based on x86 processors is wrong,
- not separating based on tier is wrong.

This sounds paranoid:


And this sounds delusional:

and the above is totally rational and actually well thought out... as well as being as selective as IDC/Gartner but then you can always prove you're right with your own interpretations of statistics...

[pl001]

Originally Posted by leebase

Samsung reported that of the 250million phones they sold, only 100million were "premium" (the type that compete with the iPhone).

The "non-premium" phones are where most of the remaining market is. Phone fanboys of all types tend to dismiss these phones as junk and they would have been correct a couple years ago. But that is not the case today. For example, the Moto G and Nokia 520 are truly good phones offering a good user experience and are fully capable of doing what most people need a smartphone to do. The 520 goes for less than $100 off-contract, the Moto G $180. Both are incredible values. Apple has nothing to compete in this important and rapidly growing market.

I think the days of $600+ phones selling in such huge numbers are coming to an end.