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Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

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Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#21

Post by not_an_alien »

While people will want to dismiss this because it's based in several devices, prior to the release of the new iPhone, and because it's still restricted to AT&T - all valid facts - the important thing to notice here is trend. Android devices have been gaining market pretty solidly lately; first the AdMob ad pushing statistics, now unit sales... this seems to be one from many more that will come.

Apple has no reason to be afraid, I'm pretty sure, as they are probably happy in having just a slice of the market and still being super lucrative (same position they play in the desktop business). But for app developers, this is a pretty strong hit of future market changes.

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#22

Post by not_an_alien »

revaaron wrote: post #18
sueders100 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Does that matter to us?" Yes, I imagine fragmentation would matter when it comes to developing for a platform.

Indeed. Fragmentation is probably the biggest reason we'll never see Android Market-sales on a per-device basis top what each iPhone user spends in the App Store- there's a wife range of CPU power, RAM, graphics capability, peripherals, multitouch or not, etc on Android devices. Like being back in the world of Windows CE...

The same is happening to the iPhone ecosystem; at a slower pace, but it's happening. Before it was the iPhone 2G; now it's iPhone 2G, 3G, 3GS, iPad, soon the new iPhone 4G... soon there will be way too many differences in resolution, screen size, CPU and OS too.

Sales per-device is irrelevant, IMO. If I sell 100 for 10 devices, it's better than selling 90 for 3 devices. It's not like I have to add one IF() condition for each new model in my code; merely that I have to plan for slower CPUs and different screen sizes and resolutions, and when I do so, it's for a whole group of similar devices.

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#23

Post by krschultz »

revaaron wrote: post #16
javery wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most significant thing is actually what kind of market there is for the apps/sites we are building. Market is not just about the number of users, it's about how much those users are buying. It's the reason that Mac developers can make more than their PC counterparts on many types of applications, because the Mac users buy more software. (at least I know I have since I switched).

My experience over the last few weeks spent using a new Nexus One as a former iPhone certainly supports this. Frankly, I'm stunned at the difference in quality and breadth of applications available in the App Store vs Android Market- compared to the App Store, the Market is like Softpedia or Tucows...

The install base of the iPhone still dwarfs Android, this is unit sales for one quarter. The iPhone has been out for a while longer than Android.

But if this quarter a sign of things to come, what platform do you want to be selling apps on long term?

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#24

Post by catch23 »

moultano wrote: post #7
davidedicillo wrote: post #2

No news here. 1. More networks, more devices. It's like saying that Windows sells more than Macbook Pros. 2. Everyone and their mothers knows that in a month Apple will introduce a new one 3. Soon the big majority of cell phones will be what we usually call smartphones. It would be fool to think that one single device will maintain dominate the marketshare. The point is that if you look at the single device, no-one i…

Does that matter to us? When I'm deciding what to support as a developer I care only about the size of the platform.

I think you would care about making money more than the size of the platform. There was a time when MySpace had 2x more users than Facebook, but app developers on MySpace didn't have the same level of virility that Facebook apps had and thus it was far more lucrative to make FB apps.

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#25

Post by krschultz »

davidedicillo wrote: post #12
moultano wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does that matter to us? When I'm deciding what to support as a developer I care only about the size of the platform.

It's not about the size of the market as much as the quality. Would you rather have 100,000 potential users and make 1,000 sales or 200,000 users and make 800. Or maybe make the same amount of sale but being able to charge more because you know that who spend $500 for a phone is more incline to spend $10 on an app than somebody who spent $100?

Ok, but that is a pile of assumptions.

If the iPhone user buys 3 apps for every 1 the Android user does, but in a couple years there are 10 times as many Android users, where do you sell your app?

The attach rate and the market size make all the difference, and there is no data to support the conclusion you are trying to make.

A gaming PC is a hell of a lot more expensive than a console, yet their attach rate is way way lower than a console.

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#26

Post by Volscio »

blhack wrote: post #20
revaaron wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

@symesc: I just switched from an iPhone to a N1 for the same reason. An inferior phone for a dozen reasons- but a switch I plan to stick with, for now.

An inferior phone for a dozen reasons Could you elaborate on that? Everybody I know who has an N1 loves it...

Just went from iPhone 2G/AT&T to HTC Droid Incredible/Verizon. SO much better in every way.

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#27

Post by Volscio »

martythemaniak wrote: post #5

I think Android outselling the iPhone (and eventually overtaking it in raw numbers) will soon become pretty obvious. Android is a pretty mass-market product - its flexibility means that manufacturers can put a wide array of products and users can make those products their own. I really don't think a single product (especially a tightly-defined one like the iPhone) can meet even a majority of people's needs.

Just wait till an Android tablet comes out.

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#28

Post by catch23 »

not_an_alien wrote: post #22
revaaron wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. Fragmentation is probably the biggest reason we'll never see Android Market-sales on a per-device basis top what each iPhone user spends in the App Store- there's a wife range of CPU power, RAM, graphics capability, peripherals, multitouch or not, etc on Android devices. Like being back in the world of Windows CE...

The same is happening to the iPhone ecosystem; at a slower pace, but it's happening. Before it was the iPhone 2G; now it's iPhone 2G, 3G, 3GS, iPad, soon the new iPhone 4G... soon there will be way too many differences in resolution, screen size, CPU and OS too. Sales per-device is irrelevant, IMO. If I sell 100 for 10 devices, it's better than selling 90 for 3 devices. It's not like I have to add one IF() condition…

It's a bit different though -- if you look at stats on Flurry for some of the popular apps, you'll see that there is less than 3% iPhone OS 2.0 users out there. That's simply because iPhone users get a free OS upgrade when they hook up to iTunes. The majority of users who are still stuck in the 2.0 land are iPod Touch users since they actually have to pay for the 3.0 upgrade. That's why the iPhone market has significantly less fragmentation.

However, I have a HTC MyTouch android phone that is still stuck in 1.6 land. I upgraded from 1.5 recently, but it was not the simplest process to do so. HTC doesn't really make it easy for phone owners to upgrade their phone OS. It's possible for me to use the CyanogenMod to upgrade my OS to 2.0, but not without lots of effort at the command line.

The current slew of 1.5/1.6 android devices out there right now will probably never be upgraded to 2.x mostly because the phone manufacturers rarely make it an easy process.

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#29

Post by jpark »

yason wrote: post #19

Android is the Windows of smartphone operating systems. iPhone OS is the OS X of smartphone operating systems. Guess which will have the majority of sales and smaller profit-per-phone and which will have minority of sales and higher profit-per-phone, eventually.

If we follow that train of thought further...

Guess which will have the majority of apps and developers?

unless it becomes way too hard to target a sizable chunk of the Android market due to hardware spec fragmentation.

Re: Android-based Smartphones Outpaced Apple's iPhone in Q1 2010

#30

Post by MWinther »

moultano wrote: post #7
davidedicillo wrote: post #2

No news here. 1. More networks, more devices. It's like saying that Windows sells more than Macbook Pros. 2. Everyone and their mothers knows that in a month Apple will introduce a new one 3. Soon the big majority of cell phones will be what we usually call smartphones. It would be fool to think that one single device will maintain dominate the marketshare. The point is that if you look at the single device, no-one i…

Does that matter to us? When I'm deciding what to support as a developer I care only about the size of the platform.

I agree. Which is why those numbers aren't that interesting when comparing Android to iPhone OS, since iPod touches and iPads are a part of the platform.

That being said, it clearly says that the Android platform is growing.

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