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Illustrated: Apple's Fear of Android

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Re: Illustrated: Apple's Fear of Android

#31

Post by berberich »

trezor wrote: post #8
jordanroher wrote: post #3

Except Apple doesn't seem to care about achieving huge market share for the iPhone. They care about money, and by delaying the iPhone 5 they've managed to make even more money than usual. It must be habit that we go for the market share argument so often. A corporation's responsibility to its shareholders isn't to spread its logo across the land like a religion, but to return value (real dollars, not imaginary market…

Samsung makes eerily close copies of the iPhone As a former iPhone-owner gone (Samsung) Android I resent that comment. iOS is a one-dimensional, inflexible and locked down platform which bored the hell out of me and this was the primary reason I went over to Android. Android and Samsung's phone (the Galaxy S, which I have and which they are sueing for) is nothing like the iPhone and every single day I'm very happy fo…

Android the platform might be nothing like iOS, but Ir does appear that Samsung went out of its way to make their phones look like iPhones[1].

[1]: http://thisismynext.com/2011/04/19/apple-sues-samsung-analys...

Re: Illustrated: Apple's Fear of Android

#32

Post by tallanvor »

arethuza wrote: post #11
tomjen3 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe your friends and colleagues but that isn't universal -- indeed I much prefer my HTC.

The best Android devices may be as good or even better than the best iPhones but the worst Android devices are much worse than any Apple device has ever been. I say this as the not-very-proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy Europa in addition to my iPhone and iPad.

Really? The Newton was pretty darn bad!

Re: Illustrated: Apple's Fear of Android

#33

Post by rimantas »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #29
rimantas wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed they are the business. Business means making money not market share. That post misses one small graph: the profit share of Apple in mobile space.

Are their profit margins growing disproportionate to their market share?

What does this even mean? Which is better, having 80% of the market and 10% of profits, or having 20% of the market and 50% of the profits?

Re: Illustrated: Apple's Fear of Android

#34

Post by AllenKids »

poppysan wrote: post #26
AllenKids wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple certainly thinks very different, and the court will decide, won't it?

I think they are merely trying to intimidate a competitor...

What you think is not important in the court.

I too think these kind of lawsuits are boring as hell, luckily there is a system to sort it out, it may not be perfect, but that's what we've got and a whole lot better than a flamewar.

Re: Illustrated: Apple's Fear of Android

#35

Post by AllenKids »

S_A_P wrote: post #30

I think that if apple were concerned about market share, iPhones would be on every carrier, there would be more iOS phones available and the pricing would be more competitive. I think that they are more happy to be a 20-30% market share with a semi premium product than a commoditized less capable product. The reality is that apple will never be able to compete with hardware vendors that crank out good-enough phones w…

As a almost exclusive Apple product user I am happy with Apple having about 20%-30% market share in major category it is competing as well. (Mac may never reach the goal, but then again as long as it is doing well.)

I'm uncomfortable with iPad's share to be honest, it's not healthy.

Re: Illustrated: Apple's Fear of Android

#36

Post by arethuza »

tallanvor wrote: post #32
arethuza wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best Android devices may be as good or even better than the best iPhones but the worst Android devices are much worse than any Apple device has ever been. I say this as the not-very-proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy Europa in addition to my iPhone and iPad.

Really? The Newton was pretty darn bad!

Good point. I meant recent Apple devices :-)

Re: Illustrated: Apple's Fear of Android

#37

Post by MatthewPhillips »

rimantas wrote: post #33
MatthewPhillips wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are their profit margins growing disproportionate to their market share?

What does this even mean? Which is better, having 80% of the market and 10% of profits, or having 20% of the market and 50% of the profits?

That's the picture today with smartphones accounting for 28% of the total phone market. If Apple's market share doesn't keep up with smartphone adoption their profit % will go down. That's simple math. The notion that Apple doesn't care about market share is absurd.

Re: Illustrated: Apple's Fear of Android

#38

Post by trezor »

berberich wrote: post #31
trezor wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Samsung makes eerily close copies of the iPhone As a former iPhone-owner gone (Samsung) Android I resent that comment. iOS is a one-dimensional, inflexible and locked down platform which bored the hell out of me and this was the primary reason I went over to Android. Android and Samsung's phone (the Galaxy S, which I have and which they are sueing for) is nothing like the iPhone and every single day I'm very happy fo…

Android the platform might be nothing like iOS, but Ir does appear that Samsung went out of its way to make their phones look like iPhones[1]. [1]: http://thisismynext.com/2011/04/19/apple-sues-samsung-analys...

To be fair, they look like any other smartphone which is black and has a touchscreen. Apple cannot be granted a patent on being black. Not even black with rounded corners. That's not how the world works.

And if we dig deeper, behind the PR-piece which Apple seemingly is winning (here on HN at least), lets compare the iPhone to Samsung F700, introduced in 2007, before the iPhone.

http://phandroid.com/2011/04/20/did-apple-really-steal-their...

I mean... It may not be all black and white, but lets not grant Apple a blanket-right to make rounded, glossy things and assume everyone else is stealing from them.

Re: Illustrated: Apple's Fear of Android

#39

Post by AndrewDucker »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #20
p0ppe wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The profit margin is more important than market share. Profit = products sold * profit margin. If you have to decrease your profit margin, to increase market share, the total profit might suffer.

Why would they have to decrease profit margin?

Because you can now buy an Android phone for less than £100. If Apple want to compete with that they'll have to compromise on both quality and profit margin.

Re: Illustrated: Apple's Fear of Android

#40

Post by AndrewDucker »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #29
rimantas wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed they are the business. Business means making money not market share. That post misses one small graph: the profit share of Apple in mobile space.

Are their profit margins growing disproportionate to their market share?

Yes. Because Apple chase the top end of the market, not the middle.
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