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

US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

counterpointresearch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

381–390 of 796 posts

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#381

Post by ghaff »

jnwatson wrote: post #347
zh3 wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm constantly amazed by how people spend so much of their income on Apple products; it's almost like their lives are ruled by the status they feel an iPhone brings (and the consequential sacrificial purchasing). It likely varies by area and average income, here it's almost an inverse correlation - the less-well off kids at school tend to have parents on iPhones and the comfortable parents are on whatever works for t…

It isn’t any different than buying Nike, Gucci, or Michael Kors. Many folks are extremely brand and status conscious. Appearing high status is more important than many other expenses.

You honestly equate buying an at least arguably better electronic device and ecosystem that you may interact with for hours a day with what’s mostly a logo on an I assume is an admittedly well-made bag?

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#382

Post by kernal »

nordsieck wrote: post #361
zh3 wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm constantly amazed by how people spend so much of their income on Apple products; it's almost like their lives are ruled by the status they feel an iPhone brings (and the consequential sacrificial purchasing). It likely varies by area and average income, here it's almost an inverse correlation - the less-well off kids at school tend to have parents on iPhones and the comfortable parents are on whatever works for t…

> I'm constantly amazed by how people spend so much of their income on Apple products I don't know about other people, but I went iPhone specifically for the value/$. Got a used iPhone SE 2020 for $150 in late 2021, and expect to use it for 5+ years. I seriously doubt that there are any Androids out there that could get even close to that. It really helps that Apple's CPU/SoC is substantially superior to what everyon…

>I seriously doubt that there are any Androids out there that could get even close to that.

It's probably because you didn't really do any research into it. A $100 or less Pixel 4a released in 2020 will easily last 5+ years if you take care of it.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#383

Post by s3p »

ethbr0 wrote: post #350
Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple's real genius is in their marketing. This was clear as day over 10 years ago, and is just as clear today. Back in the early days of iPhone vs Android, there was a huge meme of iPhone users praising Apple for "inventing" features that Android had years ago [0]. I remember (but can't find right now) a screenshot of a conversation of an iPhone user all happy about iPhone getting SwiftKey and then saying "When is A…

The dichotomy to me is in the hardware vs software divide. Apple mobile devices are absolutely luxury hardware . Apple mobile OS/software is... functional to a most generous description.

AirDrop? Handoff? Fully encrypted iCloud storage, a first-of-its-kind offering that no other mass market OEM has been able to match? Apple pay leading the market and getting mobile vendors to literally adopt contactless payments for the first time? Mobile video chat that took Google years to replicate? The list goes on. I don't know how one could say their software isn't powerful. It is.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#384

Post by FirmwareBurner »

pmontra wrote: post #184
FirmwareBurner wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hot take: I find recent Samsung flagships far superior to what Google offers, especially the latest S23: small and speedy with longer SW support than a pixel, better CPU/GPU and better cameras, at a decent price. Bloatware and Android implementation is also not too bad. Also Samsung DEX can save your bacon in case your laptop dies and you don't have a spare but need a quick desktop experience for some multitasking pr…

It's reasonably small for today's bloated standards. Unfortunately it's heavy even if it's not a 200 g monster. The real problem is that it costs 3 times as much as a phone is worth. Not that I couldn't spend those money, but why?

>The real problem is that it costs 3 times as much as a phone is worth.

Everyone values things differently. You're just not the target audience. There's other cheaper phones out there of lower specs, but all are much bigger in size though as cheap phones tend to overcompensate with bigger screens. Plus, they're full of spyware and adware, yes, way more than in premium Android phones.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#385

Post by kernal »

jnwatson wrote: post #347
zh3 wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm constantly amazed by how people spend so much of their income on Apple products; it's almost like their lives are ruled by the status they feel an iPhone brings (and the consequential sacrificial purchasing). It likely varies by area and average income, here it's almost an inverse correlation - the less-well off kids at school tend to have parents on iPhones and the comfortable parents are on whatever works for t…

It isn’t any different than buying Nike, Gucci, or Michael Kors. Many folks are extremely brand and status conscious. Appearing high status is more important than many other expenses.

You lost me at Nike and Kors.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#386

Post by jwells89 »

wilsonnb3 wrote: post #341
jwells89 wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want the OS to have any material differences at all between devices. Android should be like Windows, which is the same no matter where it's running. Even the "good" changes that manufacturers make are unwelcome, because they dull much of the appeal of an OS like Android where hardware vendors are interchangeable and can be switched on a whim without software downsides. I don't want to become dependent on some…

> Even the "good" changes that manufacturers make are unwelcome, because they dull much of the appeal of an OS like Android where hardware vendors are interchangeable and can be switched on a whim without software downsides. I don't want to become dependent on some manufacturer-specific change. So you want a worse software experience all the time in case you have to use said worse software experience in the future be…

It's something I see as necessary because products manufacturers you trust can and will sour on a dime (see OnePlus) or even get out of the business entirely (see LG and countless other former Android handset companies). If manufacturers want my loyalty, they can get it by consistently producing superior hardware (both technically and in fit and finish) and treating me well as a customer. Those things on their own are stronger differentiating factors (excellence is unusual) than software gimmicks that rarely live up to promise.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#387

Post by wilsonnb3 »

bitsandboots wrote: post #358
glimshe wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android Auto is able to show your current route/map to the car's screen. Android can do that reasonably successfully, so it's worth the price of admission for this reason alone. This said, there are a few usability annoyances and other failures elsewhere in the overall experience. But this particular feature works pretty well.

I don't understand the value of this. Is it just "big screen=better"? Because, my phone's screen is already bigger than the standalone GPSs of the past, and has voice, so I've never thought that I needed a bigger screen for navigation. In fact I want less: A few new cars have very slick HUDs on the windshield which are very elegant in their simplicity. A recent BMW rental had this, all without any smartphone integrat…

> I don't understand the value of this. Is it just "big screen=better"?

Yep. 8 inch touchscreen in my car is much easier to read and interact with, plus it is already there in a nice location so I don't have to put a phone mount somewhere, run the cables to it, etc.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#388

Post by lockhouse »

lazide wrote: post #370
lockhouse wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 and iPhone 14 both start at $799.

Which versions, exactly? Because each one of those has 3 (Samsung) or 4 (iPhone) major models with wildly different specs, and each of those specs has often times major differences in quality between the two lines. [ https://www.pcmag.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s23-vs-apple-iphon... ] Samsungs adware and weird modifications being a major negative IMO too. Though that's a taste thing I guess.

Unlocked direct from the manufacturer:

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-14

https://www.samsung.com/us/smartphones/galaxy-s23/buy/galaxy...

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#389

Post by kube-system »

zh3 wrote: post #316
lolinder wrote: post #278

The link should really be to the original report [0]. This 55% is iPhone's share of phone shipments in Q2, not the number of users of the respective phones at any given time. In other words, fewer people are buying smartphones than were before, but Apple saw less of a hit to their numbers than everyone else did. Contrary to existing comments here, this stat doesn't appear to indicate that people are switching from An…

I'm constantly amazed by how people spend so much of their income on Apple products; it's almost like their lives are ruled by the status they feel an iPhone brings (and the consequential sacrificial purchasing). It likely varies by area and average income, here it's almost an inverse correlation - the less-well off kids at school tend to have parents on iPhones and the comfortable parents are on whatever works for t…

Time is valuable, and the ecosystem of Android phones is filled with time-wasting BS: bloatware, OEM specific UIs, varying device quality, lack of OEM support, confusing accessory compatibility, a marketplace full of malware, etc.

For the type of people here that like to tinker with tech this might be a non-issue, but some other people just want to use the device to accomplish tasks with as little friction as possible.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#390

Post by ghaff »

barbecue_sauce wrote: post #377
jnwatson wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It isn’t any different than buying Nike, Gucci, or Michael Kors. Many folks are extremely brand and status conscious. Appearing high status is more important than many other expenses.

Nike is high status?

Probably to at least some degree among kids. No one else cares. Just like no one else cares about green bubbles vs. blue bubbles. But some people feel a need to convince themselves that no one would buy an Apple product for any reason but status.
Post reply on HN