Apple Captures 75% of Global Handset Market Operating Profit in Q2 2021 • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Captures 75% of Global Handset Market Operating Profit in Q2 2021

#131

Post by stelonix » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 5:07 PM UTC

reayn wrote: post #83

CJefferson wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you say "not as low", the cheapest iPhone I can find looks like the SE, at 389 pounds. I can find multiple Android phones for 50 pounds -- that's nearly an eigth of the price. I don't deny the SE is a better phone than a 50 pound phone, but it's also in an entirely different bracket -- I wouldn't give a 10 year old a nearly 400 pound iPhone, I'd give them a 50 pound Android, for example.

While I get your argument, Apple probably just doesn't give a shit about competing in the ultra cheap phone market, they've found their "niche" (for lack of a better term) and will probably stay the way they are for the foreseeable future. Also, nowadays, most people (the vast majority of which don't think the same way as people on HN do) see a $400 phone as a compelling budget option[0], maybe even "low-end" if you'…

Most people in the developed world, sure. Here on the rest of the globe, as per [0], Androids are considered the compelling budget for 99.9%* of people.

* yes, it is an hyperbole

[0] https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/news/how-much-iphone-1...

Re: Apple Captures 75% of Global Handset Market Operating Profit in Q2 2021

#132

Post by mohanmcgeek » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 5:15 PM UTC

conductr wrote: post #61

mohanmcgeek wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There isn't. Only first time smartphone buyers have a choice.. you'll lose all your appstore purchases when you switch and having repurchase everything is going to dissuade anyone from switching. Even for the first time buyers, if all their friends are on iMessage, they practically have to buy an iPhone.

I don’t buy the lock in argument. Not because it’s false but because every thing has lock in to some extent. It’s just user preference, taste, and familiarity are stronger than losing app purchases. People used to completely repurchase their music collection every 10 years or so. Albums, 8 tracks, cassettes, CDs, etc. They value reliably that Apple is known for and the risk of changing and not liking another platform…

What are the conditions that should be fulfilled for you to see that there's competition in the market?

For me, it's the existence of a player that can squeeze the margin for others.

With only seller giving people access to iMessage and app store, I don't see this condition fulfilled. Even if there is a well made phone that offers better utility for half the price, most users would just wait for iPhone to catch up rather than switch.

I don't want to draw very bad comparisons: but this is very similar to the AWS lock-in with egress, except instead of data, you have iMessage and apps you've already bought..

Re: Apple Captures 75% of Global Handset Market Operating Profit in Q2 2021

#133

Post by johnchristopher » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 5:23 PM UTC

marcellus23 wrote: post #98

johnchristopher wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do the math. What is so shocking about spending What's surprising is that for the vast majority the same can be done for <20ç/hour.

Not really, unless you look at these devices like someone who thinks all cars are equal because they're all capable of taking you from A to B. If you're spending that much time with a device, you would probably prefer the experience to be _nice_, not shoddy.

I am someone who has owned iphones before and still think they are overpriced for what they are.

To be fair, the reality distortion field rarely works on me.

Re: Apple Captures 75% of Global Handset Market Operating Profit in Q2 2021

#134

Post by johnchristopher » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 5:24 PM UTC

EveYoung wrote: post #92

johnchristopher wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do the math. What is so shocking about spending What's surprising is that for the vast majority the same can be done for <20ç/hour.

Yes, but researching these alternatives takes time and energy. Personally, I rather spent a £1-2k more on my tech gadgets per year than leaving the Apple ecosystem, which works well for me.

Yes, I am also all for paying a bit more if it comes with the guarantee that it's less problem/questioning/time wasted researching or supporting the thing down the line.

Re: Apple Captures 75% of Global Handset Market Operating Profit in Q2 2021

#135

Post by johnchristopher » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 5:24 PM UTC

rjzzleep wrote: post #97

johnchristopher wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> > I was talking with a MediaMarkt employee last week, we were talking smartphones and we both were dumbstruck about iphone prices. We agree it's good hardware/products but the price is insance. > They start at $400, right? Only really, really budget Android phones come in much under that. More like 489€. I don't know what's apple most sold devices for this year though. I have an old not-budget phone (z5c) from 6 ye…

Might wanna take a look at the following. I had an z3c that had a better supported android version from xda than a more recent xz2c because of their camera DRM and kernel bugs. Sony dev community has mostly dried up ... https://forum.xda-developers.com/f/xperia-z5-compact-android...

Yeah but no. I did that at one time but it's a huge time sink and I didn't retain useful knowledge or skills.

Re: Apple Captures 75% of Global Handset Market Operating Profit in Q2 2021

#136

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 5:27 PM UTC

handrous wrote: post #69

johnchristopher wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was talking with a MediaMarkt employee last week, we were talking smartphones and we both were dumbstruck about iphone prices. We agree it's good hardware/products but the price is insance. Yet people buy them in bulk. The brand is that strong. Apparently people also rush to replace their old models every year or two. Anyway, it just popped into my mind that I dreamt about buying a phone last night and the shop's o…

> I was talking with a MediaMarkt employee last week, we were talking smartphones and we both were dumbstruck about iphone prices. We agree it's good hardware/products but the price is insance. They start at $400, right? Only really, really budget Android phones come in much under that. > Yet people buy them in bulk. The brand is that strong. Apparently people also rush to replace their old models every year or two.…

[deleted]

Re: Apple Captures 75% of Global Handset Market Operating Profit in Q2 2021

#137

Post by tomjen3 » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 5:30 PM UTC

cies wrote: post #62

cs702 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe. I'm not so sure. In theory , a company like, say, Samsung could stop making cheaper, money-losing phones and invest primarily on making increasingly better, premium, profitable phones like the Galaxy Fold, but they choose not to do that, year after year.

What differentiates those premium phones? It runs the same Android of which I rather have a stock version than the bloat-ware rubbish that phone makers install on there for me. The iOS devices link into a web of ease-of-use, and come with a reasonably well make stock version of iOS. And then there's trust. Whom does an average user trust more with their data? (Apple/USgov, or Google/USgov+Samsung/SouthKorea+...)

The expensive Samsungs are the foldables and things like the ultra, with super zoom cameras.

Re: Apple Captures 75% of Global Handset Market Operating Profit in Q2 2021

#138

Post by tomjen3 » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 5:32 PM UTC

beckman466 wrote: post #108

cs702 wrote: post #18

...with only a 13% share of units. That is, all other vendors together sold 87% of units, but earned only a combined 25% of industry-wide profit. The vast majority of those other vendors are companies headquartered in Asian countries with a long history of promoting market share, access to information, and knowledge transfer at the expense of short-term profit. They might be making less money willingly to grow/mainta…

> ...with only a 13% share of units. > Asian countries with a long history of promoting market share, access to information, and knowledge transfer at the expense of short-term profit. Apple is the king of parasitic technological and scientific knowledge rentierism and obfuscation, as well as king in exploitation. it's neo-imperialism at it's most 'refined'. profits are surplus value extracted from workers, including…

>don't think it's so bad? Vijay Prashad: "iPhone workers today are 25 times more exploited than textile workers in 19th Century England" [4]

One thing I love about studying history is that you can dismiss claims like that immediately.

Re: Apple Captures 75% of Global Handset Market Operating Profit in Q2 2021

#139

Post by tomjen3 » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 5:37 PM UTC

mohanmcgeek wrote: post #36

lapdanz wrote: post #4

Apple will dominate the market until the market itself becomes irrelevant. Good news for Apple is that in the next 5 years I don’t see something in the horizon to challenge the market of smartphones.

There's definitely something: Google, Microsoft or Amazon launching a sub $300 smartphone and an ad campaign making fun of people spending a thousand dollars for nothing extra. It feels like FAAMG minus Google don't want to compete with each other on the consumer side.

That would be hard, since Apple would immediately come out with a campaign against it, probably attacking whatever compromise they had to make.

Example: because your childs first step matters, after which it cuts to a good video shut in a hurry on an iPhone, or a terrible one on $CHEAP_PHONE)

Re: Apple Captures 75% of Global Handset Market Operating Profit in Q2 2021

#140

Post by wayneftw » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 6:13 PM UTC

cs702 wrote: post #18

...with only a 13% share of units. That is, all other vendors together sold 87% of units, but earned only a combined 25% of industry-wide profit. The vast majority of those other vendors are companies headquartered in Asian countries with a long history of promoting market share, access to information, and knowledge transfer at the expense of short-term profit. They might be making less money willingly to grow/mainta…

In the US their unit share is now greater than 50%.

It's too bad that they're taking all of our money and not exporting much.

And for a country that loves "freedom" so much, it's also too bad that we don't make Apple sell us devices that we can actually own and control, by simply voting with our dollars.