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Apple’s China Problem Is That Local Phones Are Good – And Cheap

bloomberg.com

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Re: Apple’s China Problem Is That Local Phones Are Good – And Cheap

#21

Post by wyldfire »

nimos wrote: post #19

I think the problem is far worse for high end Android manufactures. Apple at least has a unique ecosystem that serves as a point of differentiation. What does Samsung have to differentiate itself? A logo? Apple is a luxury brand and people are willing to pay for luxury goods. If you amortize the additional cost of an iPhone over a year or two it's really not that expensive from a luxury/status good standpoint. Less e…

> What does Samsung have to differentiate itself? A logo?

As a practical matter, I like that models from Samsung/LG/Mot/etc have a large installed base of users (vs no-name or lower tier Android manufacturers). I think a corollary to Linus' Law should be "Given enough users, all bugs are easily discovered." If there were a low-end brand of Android phones that had a large amount of share, I'd probably consider them instead. (or is there one already?)

Re: Apple’s China Problem Is That Local Phones Are Good – And Cheap

#23

Post by poopsintub »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #2

Not reading the article yet since Bloomberg is blocked by the GFW and my VPN is down again, but isn't this what we should expect anyways? As smartphones become more mature and slow down in innovation, everyone else who are value players can more easily catch up, destroying apple's previous leading edge advantage. Basically, when/if smartphones become a commodity, Apple has to move into something else that isn't or jo…

This is why they are moving to services, which continues to grow. They realize they can't innovate a phone every 2, even 3 years. Apple Pay, Apple Music, etc. All help counter the problem of people saying they just make the iPhone along with market saturation.

Re: Apple’s China Problem Is That Local Phones Are Good – And Cheap

#24

Post by randiantech »

nimos wrote: post #19

I think the problem is far worse for high end Android manufactures. Apple at least has a unique ecosystem that serves as a point of differentiation. What does Samsung have to differentiate itself? A logo? Apple is a luxury brand and people are willing to pay for luxury goods. If you amortize the additional cost of an iPhone over a year or two it's really not that expensive from a luxury/status good standpoint. Less e…

Android has reached a level of maturity that makes comparison with Apple ecosystem neglectable nowadays; simply its no longer a selling point compared to previous years. Also, high end Android phones were able to introduce new technologies to the mobile market much faster that Apple (in example: VR). Just anecdotical, Im a Windows Phone user, but due to R&D work I use Apple and Android devices regularly. That unique, luxury feeling of Apple phones is no longer that visible as it was a couple of years ago.

Re: Apple’s China Problem Is That Local Phones Are Good – And Cheap

#25

Post by smrtinsert »

nimos wrote: post #19

I think the problem is far worse for high end Android manufactures. Apple at least has a unique ecosystem that serves as a point of differentiation. What does Samsung have to differentiate itself? A logo? Apple is a luxury brand and people are willing to pay for luxury goods. If you amortize the additional cost of an iPhone over a year or two it's really not that expensive from a luxury/status good standpoint. Less e…

Well Samsung has Super Amoled which is in everything, including precious lifestyle iphones. Frankly I find Androids ui much nicer than Apples which feels child like. So there's that!

Re: Apple’s China Problem Is That Local Phones Are Good – And Cheap

#26

Post by Grazester »

dingleberry wrote: post #15

xiaomi phone is capable to block mobile data (and wifi) on app level. Say, gmail can access data on wifi only, chrome on mobile only and whatsapp on both mobile and wifi. It's a finer control than disabling background data. Before xiaomi, I used asus and it eats mobile data like crazy with no control other than airplane mode. bonus is that xiami has finer permission control too on app level. I can disallow whatsapp t…

You can do this with stock Android also

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/prevent-any-app-using-mobile-da...

Re: Apple’s China Problem Is That Local Phones Are Good – And Cheap

#28

Post by zwily »

dingleberry wrote: post #15

xiaomi phone is capable to block mobile data (and wifi) on app level. Say, gmail can access data on wifi only, chrome on mobile only and whatsapp on both mobile and wifi. It's a finer control than disabling background data. Before xiaomi, I used asus and it eats mobile data like crazy with no control other than airplane mode. bonus is that xiami has finer permission control too on app level. I can disallow whatsapp t…

I do this all the time... on iOS. It's very useful.

Re: Apple’s China Problem Is That Local Phones Are Good – And Cheap

#29

Post by erichocean »

randiantech wrote: post #24
nimos wrote: post #19

I think the problem is far worse for high end Android manufactures. Apple at least has a unique ecosystem that serves as a point of differentiation. What does Samsung have to differentiate itself? A logo? Apple is a luxury brand and people are willing to pay for luxury goods. If you amortize the additional cost of an iPhone over a year or two it's really not that expensive from a luxury/status good standpoint. Less e…

Android has reached a level of maturity that makes comparison with Apple ecosystem neglectable nowadays; simply its no longer a selling point compared to previous years. Also, high end Android phones were able to introduce new technologies to the mobile market much faster that Apple (in example: VR). Just anecdotical, Im a Windows Phone user, but due to R&D work I use Apple and Android devices regularly. That unique,…

> Android has reached a level of maturity that makes comparison with Apple ecosystem neglectable nowadays; simply its no longer a selling point compared to previous years.

This spirit of this comment has been replicated verbatim every year for the last 5 years by some random HN commenter.

I guess, eventually, it might be true.

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