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Apple up, Android flat in smartphone growth

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Re: Apple up, Android flat in smartphone growth

#21

Post by ugh »

kenjackson wrote: post #13
miahi wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference between the titles is very interesting: "Apple up, Android flat in smartphone growth" vs the original "_In US_, Smartphones Now Majority of New Cellphone Purchases". Yes, the US market is big, but not the only one. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/06/andy-rubin-500000-and...

The big story, IMO, looking at the charts is that smartphone growth all-up stalled (flat between Q1 and Q2). Maybe the first Q2Q stall in growth in years. I'd like to know why people aren't getting smartphones? Is the cost of the data plans? If so, I think we may see growth in this market segment slow down a lot faster than some people expect.

That doesn’t seem like a big story unless it happens again.

Re: Apple up, Android flat in smartphone growth

#22

Post by moe »

micampe wrote: post #17
kenjackson wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The big story, IMO, looking at the charts is that smartphone growth all-up stalled (flat between Q1 and Q2). Maybe the first Q2Q stall in growth in years. I'd like to know why people aren't getting smartphones? Is the cost of the data plans? If so, I think we may see growth in this market segment slow down a lot faster than some people expect.

I think that's because they are selling them as pocket computers, and a lot of people don't care about having another computer. Those who did already got them.

A number of people (at least in my circle) have also realized that those touchscreen devices are inferior for their primary purpose; being a phone. I know quite a few who "downgraded" their iphones to old fashioned devices with a real keypad (mostly nokias) after the novelty had worn off.

Re: Apple up, Android flat in smartphone growth

#23

Post by rabidsnail »

The number I care about (which I haven't been able to find, not that I looked very hard) is how many unique (per user) app installations there were per month for each platform. The number of users is only useful if users of all platforms install apps at the same rate, which my intuition says is not true.

Many android phones are sold as "the nice phone that you can get with your 2-year contract" as opposed to an item that the owner sought out explicitly, so they're less likely to explore the full potential of the device.

Re: Apple up, Android flat in smartphone growth

#24

Post by vegardx »

miahi wrote: post #8
sudont wrote: post #4

This: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/?p=28237 Is a lot more helpful. There's still a lot of market to cover, so it's not like iOS and Android are cannibalizing each others sales yet.

The difference between the titles is very interesting: "Apple up, Android flat in smartphone growth" vs the original "_In US_, Smartphones Now Majority of New Cellphone Purchases". Yes, the US market is big, but not the only one. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/06/andy-rubin-500000-and...

Yeah - the market is huge, but when it comes to adoption rate one should really look into Norway, Sweden and Denmark, where adoption rate of smart phones make other countries look dumb.

Re: Apple up, Android flat in smartphone growth

#25

Post by jerf »

kenjackson wrote: post #13
miahi wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference between the titles is very interesting: "Apple up, Android flat in smartphone growth" vs the original "_In US_, Smartphones Now Majority of New Cellphone Purchases". Yes, the US market is big, but not the only one. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/06/andy-rubin-500000-and...

The big story, IMO, looking at the charts is that smartphone growth all-up stalled (flat between Q1 and Q2). Maybe the first Q2Q stall in growth in years. I'd like to know why people aren't getting smartphones? Is the cost of the data plans? If so, I think we may see growth in this market segment slow down a lot faster than some people expect.

"Is the cost of the data plans?"

It's what's stopping me. $60/month for both lines -> $720/year, and given how much I'm in front of computers and in range of free-to-me WiFi that's a terrible, terrible deal. I've got a "feature phone" and I'm not really feeling the pain.

Re: Apple up, Android flat in smartphone growth

#26

Post by gnaffle »

micampe wrote: post #17
kenjackson wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The big story, IMO, looking at the charts is that smartphone growth all-up stalled (flat between Q1 and Q2). Maybe the first Q2Q stall in growth in years. I'd like to know why people aren't getting smartphones? Is the cost of the data plans? If so, I think we may see growth in this market segment slow down a lot faster than some people expect.

I think that's because they are selling them as pocket computers, and a lot of people don't care about having another computer. Those who did already got them.

Actually, my experience is that a lot of people are getting smartphones that hate their computer and rarely use it, and just want a good phone.

My mother got an iPhone, not because she wanted lots of apps, but because the user interface was simple enough to understand and use for making phone calls, and because she never figured out the T9 stuff. I was quite surprised when I discovered that she'd figured out how to use Safari on her own.

Some other friends got an iPhone after buying and iPod touch for watching videos and listening to music while commuting, and gradually discovered that it was pointless carrying around two devices.

So the potential market is very big IMO, and only limited to how far down the price can be pushed. Of course, there will always be a big market for "non"-smartphones, as these will get cheaper as well and reach even more people.

Re: Apple up, Android flat in smartphone growth

#27

Post by hugh3 »

jerf wrote: post #25
kenjackson wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The big story, IMO, looking at the charts is that smartphone growth all-up stalled (flat between Q1 and Q2). Maybe the first Q2Q stall in growth in years. I'd like to know why people aren't getting smartphones? Is the cost of the data plans? If so, I think we may see growth in this market segment slow down a lot faster than some people expect.

"Is the cost of the data plans?" It's what's stopping me. $60/month for both lines -> $720/year, and given how much I'm in front of computers and in range of free-to-me WiFi that's a terrible, terrible deal. I've got a "feature phone" and I'm not really feeling the pain.

If you're in the US, try Virgin Mobile. They've got the LG Optimus V (a reasonably capable Androidy sort of thing) for $200 on prepaid, then you pay $25 a month for unlimited data + unlimited text + (I think) 300 minutes of voice.

It's cheaper than any other option to a ridiculous degree.

Re: Apple up, Android flat in smartphone growth

#29

Post by subsection1h »

hugh3 wrote: post #27
jerf wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Is the cost of the data plans?" It's what's stopping me. $60/month for both lines -> $720/year, and given how much I'm in front of computers and in range of free-to-me WiFi that's a terrible, terrible deal. I've got a "feature phone" and I'm not really feeling the pain.

If you're in the US, try Virgin Mobile. They've got the LG Optimus V (a reasonably capable Androidy sort of thing) for $200 on prepaid, then you pay $25 a month for unlimited data + unlimited text + (I think) 300 minutes of voice. It's cheaper than any other option to a ridiculous degree.

My girlfriend, brother, and his fiance have been using Virgin Mobile's $25/month Beyond Talk service for a year or so. They're all using LG Optimus V phones now. They're satisfied customers.

Re: Apple up, Android flat in smartphone growth

#30

Post by Meai »

kenjackson wrote: post #13
miahi wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference between the titles is very interesting: "Apple up, Android flat in smartphone growth" vs the original "_In US_, Smartphones Now Majority of New Cellphone Purchases". Yes, the US market is big, but not the only one. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/06/andy-rubin-500000-and...

The big story, IMO, looking at the charts is that smartphone growth all-up stalled (flat between Q1 and Q2). Maybe the first Q2Q stall in growth in years. I'd like to know why people aren't getting smartphones? Is the cost of the data plans? If so, I think we may see growth in this market segment slow down a lot faster than some people expect.

Because they are expensive, they have very little battery life, they break easily (expensive again), they may get stolen (I can leave my 10€ phone anywhere, I wouldn't do that with my 600€ one), they do everything computers do, only at a tiny impractical screen, there is a notion of more radiation from smartphones, they make it much more attractive to waste time, they are much slower to boot up = people don't want their smartphones do be always on/standby, they are more unreliable in terms of glitches / connectivity issues / bugs.
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