Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Android Sales Overtake iPhone in the U.S.

gigaom.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 133 posts

Re: Android Sales Overtake iPhone in the U.S.

#11

Post by el_chapitan »

bad_user wrote: post #5
niccolop wrote: post #3

I suppose this isn't at all surprising based on the iPhone/At&t tie up. It would be interesting to compare other countries where carriers haven't locked up the iPhone (e.g. UK or France). No doubt android is an excellent platform, but the barriers to obtaining an iPhone seem relatively higher than android.

> No doubt android is an excellent platform, but the barriers to obtaining an iPhone seem relatively higher than android. That's a feature of Android, not something that just happens because of factors outside the control of Apple or Google.

Actually, it is something outside of the control of Google. Admittedly, they made the right choices to allow the OS to spread (I was going to say easier, but really they allowed it to spread at all). This didn't mean, however, that anyone else was going to pick it up and use it.

Re: Android Sales Overtake iPhone in the U.S.

#12

Post by muhfuhkuh »

gregholland wrote: post #10

Unfortunately, the Android Marketplace as well as the SDK still sucks for us developers. Buggy and inconsistent behavior across different devices; Bad performance (MotionEvent anyone?); The lack of paid apps in different countries and the prevalence of spammy crapware apps on the unregulated marketplace. I wonder if google will do anything to address these issues as Android gain a wider audience. Otherwise I can see…

I agree. I would care so much more about this _iff_, as a software developer, I could capitalize on it. Looking at numbers from various posts and outlets, iPhone (or even iPad) app sales are orders of magnitude larger than equivalents on Android Market.

If I were a _device_ manufacturer, the "Free as in Everything" aspect of Android is definitely alluring, as it saves from Symbian or WinMo royalties. That's where it matters: to the Motorolas, HTCs, and (eventually) Nokias of the world.

For a hacker doing software, though, it just doesn't come close to the App Store as far as outlets for monetization.

Also this: http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share....

It looks like Apple gains market share in web usage, and doubles Android in growth, according to the report. So, it looks like even though Android may overtake iPhone in sales, the users don't often use one of its primary features as a smartphone. Is it the browser experience or laggy hardware that stymies the growth?

Re: Android Sales Overtake iPhone in the U.S.

#13

Post by old-gregg »

dlsspy wrote: post #7
byoung2 wrote: post #2

I think part of the loyalty numbers for iPhone users is the substantial investment they make in other Apple hardware, software, and App Store apps. Unfortunately, I don't have any hard data to back this up, but I imagine a large percentage of iPhone users have at least one other piece of Apple hardware, such as a Mac, iPad, iPod Touch, etc., that works seamlessly alongside the iPhone and iTunes. That makes it tougher…

> He has an iPhone, a Macbook, and a Mac Mini. He loves the fact that iTunes ties them all together, and wouldn't get a different phone because of it. I have a macbook, mac mini, iPad and formerly used an iPhone. iTunes was the worst part of that. I simply never plug any of that stuff into my computer unless I really need to get photos or something off of it. That's a usability pain. It doesn't help that I have more…

+1. I absolutely love my Nexus One (we have iPhones in our family) and I believe that N1 represents the "next generation" of mobile devices, if you will. iPhone is stuck in the past - it requires a computer to be fully operational: a few months ago we went overseas and I wanted to put more stuff on it to listen/watch on the plane, but the people we were staying with only had a Linux laptop - iPhone was as useful as brick.

Too bad N1 isn't available anymore: the overall experience/quality you get is incredible, plus absolute carrier independence, user experience and overall value: $60/mo for everything on T-Mobile without a contract, including tethering and cheap international calling via Google Voice, and yeah - proper utilization of Internet, without the need to sync with the most retarded piece of software ever known (iTunes). It even plays music to my stereo via Bluetooth: every time I walk into my apartment and experience the song transition from my headphones to my stereo I think "F&&& yeah, the future is here".

Re: Android Sales Overtake iPhone in the U.S.

#14

Post by cageface »

el_chapitan wrote: post #9
cageface wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The integration point for Google's stuff is the cloud, not physical devices. I expect this to gradually become a key differentiating factor. Apple is riding the coattails of an old paradigm, and, like Microsoft before them, they're too invested in the money they're making in the old paradigm to make the sacrifices necessary to properly address the new one.

While I generally agree with your statement, I think that you may be jumping the gun a tad in terms of the market. The "coattails of the old paradigm" are going to be very important so long as a good network connection isn't guaranteed at all times. Amazing strides have been made to improve connectivity, but we're not there yet. So long as we're not there, you will continue to see the old paradigm.

Certainly timing is crucial in these things. Sun might have actually been a little too far ahead of its time in the 90's, for example.

Ultimately though we should be thinking of local storage as cache and not anything more privileged.

Re: Android Sales Overtake iPhone in the U.S.

#15

Post by byoung2 »

axod wrote: post #4
byoung2 wrote: post #2

I think part of the loyalty numbers for iPhone users is the substantial investment they make in other Apple hardware, software, and App Store apps. Unfortunately, I don't have any hard data to back this up, but I imagine a large percentage of iPhone users have at least one other piece of Apple hardware, such as a Mac, iPad, iPod Touch, etc., that works seamlessly alongside the iPhone and iTunes. That makes it tougher…

Google showcased a ton of this at Google I/O. Android ties in really well to their webapps, Google TV (If that succeeds), etc. I remember one example was that you can go to maps.google.com and click on a phone icon, and it just sends it straight to your phone which opens a map in the same place. That's really useful integration. I forget the rest of the examples, but they were all pretty 'wow'. I think iTunes is an e…

I remember one example was that you can go to maps.google.com and click on a phone icon, and it just sends it straight to your phone which opens a map in the same place

That's in Android 2.2...which my phone (HTC Evo 4G) is supposed to be getting today!

Re: Android Sales Overtake iPhone in the U.S.

#16

Post by byoung2 »

dlsspy wrote: post #7
byoung2 wrote: post #2

I think part of the loyalty numbers for iPhone users is the substantial investment they make in other Apple hardware, software, and App Store apps. Unfortunately, I don't have any hard data to back this up, but I imagine a large percentage of iPhone users have at least one other piece of Apple hardware, such as a Mac, iPad, iPod Touch, etc., that works seamlessly alongside the iPhone and iTunes. That makes it tougher…

> He has an iPhone, a Macbook, and a Mac Mini. He loves the fact that iTunes ties them all together, and wouldn't get a different phone because of it. I have a macbook, mac mini, iPad and formerly used an iPhone. iTunes was the worst part of that. I simply never plug any of that stuff into my computer unless I really need to get photos or something off of it. That's a usability pain. It doesn't help that I have more…

I have a macbook, mac mini, iPad and formerly used an iPhone. iTunes was the worst part of that.

I agree that iTunes is terrible, but for some reason, he loves it. I can't figure out why. But I think there are more people like him than there are like you or me.

Re: Android Sales Overtake iPhone in the U.S.

#17

Post by WiseWeasel »

old-gregg wrote: post #13
dlsspy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He has an iPhone, a Macbook, and a Mac Mini. He loves the fact that iTunes ties them all together, and wouldn't get a different phone because of it. I have a macbook, mac mini, iPad and formerly used an iPhone. iTunes was the worst part of that. I simply never plug any of that stuff into my computer unless I really need to get photos or something off of it. That's a usability pain. It doesn't help that I have more…

+1. I absolutely love my Nexus One (we have iPhones in our family) and I believe that N1 represents the "next generation" of mobile devices, if you will. iPhone is stuck in the past - it requires a computer to be fully operational: a few months ago we went overseas and I wanted to put more stuff on it to listen/watch on the plane, but the people we were staying with only had a Linux laptop - iPhone was as useful as b…

If the iPhone is stuck in the past, then Android devices are stuck in the future. It would be nice if I could transfer all my data from an Android device directly to my computer without having to send it to any third parties. iTunes may certainly be a bloated, unwieldy piece of software, but it offers some powerful functionality missing from the Android platform.

As for A2DP stereo over BlueTooth, the iOS platform now supports that as well, though there may still be some limitations that make it less practical than the Android equivalent (possibly a lack of standardized method for controlling the music playback via BlueTooth - not sure if that's been added yet).

Re: Android Sales Overtake iPhone in the U.S.

#18

Post by byoung2 »

cageface wrote: post #8
byoung2 wrote: post #2

I think part of the loyalty numbers for iPhone users is the substantial investment they make in other Apple hardware, software, and App Store apps. Unfortunately, I don't have any hard data to back this up, but I imagine a large percentage of iPhone users have at least one other piece of Apple hardware, such as a Mac, iPad, iPod Touch, etc., that works seamlessly alongside the iPhone and iTunes. That makes it tougher…

The integration point for Google's stuff is the cloud, not physical devices. I expect this to gradually become a key differentiating factor. Apple is riding the coattails of an old paradigm, and, like Microsoft before them, they're too invested in the money they're making in the old paradigm to make the sacrifices necessary to properly address the new one.

The integration point for Google's stuff is the cloud, not physical devices

That may be part of the problem with loyalty to Android. If everything is in the cloud, there is nothing tying me to a Google device. When I got my Android phone, I put in my Google account and got all of my contacts from Gmail and Google Voice, etc., but that is nothing new, as I had the same thing on Windows Mobile, and I could get the same thing on iPhone. When you get an iPhone, on the other hand, you have to create an iTunes account, and all the apps you buy, and all the backups for your phone happen there. It makes it easy to get another iPhone, or iPad, or iPod Touch, but it is harder to switch to Android or another platform.

Re: Android Sales Overtake iPhone in the U.S.

#20

Post by melling »

This trend was pretty easy to spot. Almost 6 months ago:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1129465

The problem is that developers are making a lot more money on iPhone apps. I've heard several developers complaining that their apps don't sell on Android. Will this eventually change?

Post reply on HN