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Apple’s China Problem

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Re: Apple’s China Problem

#51

Post by imron »

naskwo wrote: post #33
imron wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but I believe strongly that more people have an Android. If you go by people, Android has more market share. If you go by profit, iOS has more market share. https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/07/apple-global-smartphone... > None of that lock-in exists in China This is true. If all your friends and family use iMessage and PhotoStream, then once you start using that too it creates lock-in specifically tied to software…

Try www.famipix.com - we'll be launching a React Native app (iOS & Android) soon, for platform-independent, no BS photo sharing.

The problem is that so many photo providers have started up and shut down (or been shutdown after acquisition) that it requires a huge deal of trust to switch to another provider.

I can see from your site you've been around for a long time, but that still doesn't help ward of fears about future acquisition.

And even if you could convince me, then you'd also need to convince all my family to pay for something that they currently get for free.

The lock-is effect for Apple products is strong.

That said, after looking at your site, I'll definitely keep you guys tucked away in the back of my mind if I ever decide to move of iOS.

Re: Apple’s China Problem

#52

Post by Kurtz79 »

xwvvvvwx wrote: post #19
yabatopia wrote: post #16

I don't know if most people really consider the OS to be that important anymore, as the author strongly believes. The Windows Surface Laptop is no threat to Apple because it doesn't run macOS. Samsung's smartphones are no threat to Apple because the phones don't run iOS. Then he continues with the WeChat factor to explain the shrinking market share of Apple in China. If you consider China the trendsetter in tech, tha…

Isn't the point that weechat has pretty much become the preferred operating system in China?

WeChat is an application, not an Operating System.

The point it is that is so widely used in China that the OS it runs on is basically indifferent to the user, since he will spend most of his time in the app itself, which replaces/supplement/embeds many services that the OS (or other third party apps) usually provides.

Re: Apple’s China Problem

#53

Post by skdotdan »

The problem with many tech analysts is that they are Apple fanboys without even knowing that they are. Stating that Microsoft Surface and Samsung S8 are not competitors of Apple just because their products don't run Mac OS/iOS is pure fanaticism at the very least.

Nevertheless, I find that the main point of the article is right. But Apple's China problem is also a very important problem for Google (actually, it's worse for Google).

Re: Apple’s China Problem

#54

Post by endorphone »

yabatopia wrote: post #16

I don't know if most people really consider the OS to be that important anymore, as the author strongly believes. The Windows Surface Laptop is no threat to Apple because it doesn't run macOS. Samsung's smartphones are no threat to Apple because the phones don't run iOS. Then he continues with the WeChat factor to explain the shrinking market share of Apple in China. If you consider China the trendsetter in tech, tha…

By the argument of your first paragraph, Android and iOS are no threat to Windows because they don't run Windows apps.

But of course they are, just as Samsung is a threat to Apple, Apple is a threat to Samsung, etc. We are doing a set of tasks and using features and functions that multiple options provide a solution for.

Platform tie-in was once a strong bond, but has dramatically weakened. Those people who chose teams in the nascent days might be somewhat locked in, but anyone picking a platform over the past half decade has almost always created a transferable world.

As a case in point, my wife recently went from a Nexus 5 to an iPhone. Virtually nothing in her life changed: She still had gmail and the KFC app and Facebook and Hangouts and a good, standards compliant web browser and SMS, etc. For a variety of reasons she decided she didn't like idioms of the OS so she moved to a Galaxy S8, and again her world was close to identical.

Re: Apple’s China Problem

#55

Post by gideonparanoid »

awjr wrote: post #28
iplaw wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too bad the phones from ZTE, Huawei, OnePlus, Xiaomi, etc generally suffer from horrendous build quality. From my experience, even their flagship devices feel more like a toy and less like an actual phone. The iPhone and Galaxy, and perhaps a few one offs from other companies, set build quality and craft benchmarks.

I've been very impressed with the OnePlus 3T. Cannot fault it at the price (£400).

£400? I got mine for £330 last year (was £300 before GBP tanked).

Re: Apple’s China Problem

#56

Post by gnrlist »

Chinese people want the Apple brand they don't care about iOS. If iOS was the status symbol it would get pirated and installed elsewhere. Apple has a strong brand because of it's history as a premium device company internationally, that's all. Their brand was their first mover advantage in China but now Chinese companies are closing that brand gap and since WeChat rules the software side Apple is going to have a hard time being a big player until it can differentiate itself on something other than brand.

Re: Apple’s China Problem

#57

Post by tuna-piano »

skdotdan wrote: post #53

The problem with many tech analysts is that they are Apple fanboys without even knowing that they are. Stating that Microsoft Surface and Samsung S8 are not competitors of Apple just because their products don't run Mac OS/iOS is pure fanaticism at the very least. Nevertheless, I find that the main point of the article is right. But Apple's China problem is also a very important problem for Google (actually, it's wor…

I actually think the author has a good point.

When the owner of an iPhone wants a new phone, they overwhelmingly buy an iPhone. The author makes the point, and I agree, that it is because of the iOS software and not the iPhone hardware.

iOS users already have made investments in iOS apps, talk to their friends using iMessage, and are used to the look and feel of the OS. If these users could buy a Samsung phone with iOS on it, I suspect many would (say for phones with better battery life or other features).

So when in China a user spends the vast majority of their time in one app, that app kind of becomes the OS, and there are much lower switching costs between Android and iOS. Customers in China are in large part just choosing which hardware to run WeChat on.

That said, the history in desktop OS tells a less clear story.

In 1998, Windows was what almost everyone needed to buy, because they needed to run Windows software. Overtime the web browser (which works the same across operating systems) became where people spent most of their time, and ChromeOS and Mac were able to gain market share.

Apple laptops still have significant market share and pricing power. But when you compare the Samsung S8 vs iPhone 7, I see much fewer differences than the MacBook vs HP/Dell whatever.

Re: Apple’s China Problem

#58

Post by ianai »

Kurtz79 wrote: post #52
xwvvvvwx wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't the point that weechat has pretty much become the preferred operating system in China?

WeChat is an application, not an Operating System. The point it is that is so widely used in China that the OS it runs on is basically indifferent to the user, since he will spend most of his time in the app itself, which replaces/supplement/embeds many services that the OS (or other third party apps) usually provides.

How does that get through Apple's restrictions?

Re: Apple’s China Problem

#59

Post by jza00425 »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #21
yabatopia wrote: post #16

I don't know if most people really consider the OS to be that important anymore, as the author strongly believes. The Windows Surface Laptop is no threat to Apple because it doesn't run macOS. Samsung's smartphones are no threat to Apple because the phones don't run iOS. Then he continues with the WeChat factor to explain the shrinking market share of Apple in China. If you consider China the trendsetter in tech, tha…

Are you kidding? It's like every other day we hear about a new Android exploit or security flaw. At least Apple is committed to strong encryption and privacy. The OS - and the hardware integration - is an enormous selling point to me. As much as I oppose Apple's direction as of late for many business decisions (iPhone 7 headphone jack for example), the reasons stated above are why I still cannot see myself switching.

The OS and hardware integration is a selling point. But how many people actually care about security flaws?
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