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Google vs. Apple – The Smartphone Race Is Over, and a New One Begins…

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Re: Google vs. Apple – The Smartphone Race Is Over, and a New One Begins…

#41

Post by skeptic2718 »

pmyjavec wrote: post #17

"Apple has always missed the cue on one critical piece: access to customer data. And that is what Google has always been successful at." This is where it ends with Google and I, enough is enough. I have to be honest the direction Google is heading in lately feels like dangerous territory, either people are going to like the invasive approach or be scared off by it, time will tell. I get the feeling people care less a…

The majority of the users don't care about that, so I don't think it will make any difference.

Re: Google vs. Apple – The Smartphone Race Is Over, and a New One Begins…

#42

Post by forthefuture »

vlunkr wrote: post #33

I think this article underestimates the power of brand loyalty. Tons of customers have almost a decade of iOS under their belt, and convincing them to learn something new is often impossible because they don't care . Their iPhone is working for them. Tech people think they can list off android-only features and convince people, but it usually doesn't work that way. Only when/if their iPhone really lets them down will…

That works the same for both sides. Many people I know would never use an iPhone. Most people in the world don't use iPhones.

Re: Google vs. Apple – The Smartphone Race Is Over, and a New One Begins…

#43

Post by phmagic »

For me, the problems with Google's latest move to capture more of my data are 1. The value prop to me is minimal compared to the amount of data they are gathering, 2. There is no way to opt out.

1. All of the hardware offerings Google made are subpar copies of other products. They did the minimum viable thing to get your data. Google's Assistant, with all the data and cloud processing power in the world, is equivalent to Siri. Assistant is not a leap forward, just a rebranded OK Google.

I'd had the same feeling in the past about Google's Social efforts. It's more blatant that Google's mining my data when their product offering is just a copy.

Contrast that with Search, Maps and GMail. When those came out, it mattered less that Google was scanning my data because the products were leaps and bounds above the competition.

2. Google has taken over enough of your daily lives with Android, GMail, Search and Maps that it's really hard to opt out.

We've vilified Apple for its closed ecosystem but we ended up with an alternative much worse in Android, one where all of the data you've generated is available for everyone to harvest.

Re: Google vs. Apple – The Smartphone Race Is Over, and a New One Begins…

#44

Post by do_it_simpler »

denzil_correa wrote: post #29
do_it_simpler wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much more money can Google make with the data they get from that 87% of market share than Apple can make from the iPhones themselves?

You have a legitimate point but that is tangential to the parent comment which says that Anroid (an operating system) wins over iPhone (a hardware) because Android has more market share. I was merely asking if market share translated to money. If so, what was the difference and how did Android win?

Ah, I see now. I took your question as saying that Apple "won" the smartphone wars because their sales are (iirc) more profitable. My mistake.

Re: Google vs. Apple – The Smartphone Race Is Over, and a New One Begins…

#45

Post by [deleted] »

skierscott wrote: post #21

> But Apple has always missed the cue on one critical piece: access to customer data. And that is what Google has always been successful at. > When you buy an Android phone you sign in to your Google account. Behind the scenes, Google starts recording a huge amount of data about you as a user, your preferences, your routine. Some would say not accessing customer data is a feature. I am very careful who I share my dat…

[deleted]

Re: Google vs. Apple – The Smartphone Race Is Over, and a New One Begins…

#46

Post by phmagic »

wastedhours wrote: post #38
vlunkr wrote: post #33

I think this article underestimates the power of brand loyalty. Tons of customers have almost a decade of iOS under their belt, and convincing them to learn something new is often impossible because they don't care . Their iPhone is working for them. Tech people think they can list off android-only features and convince people, but it usually doesn't work that way. Only when/if their iPhone really lets them down will…

Exactly - I've been trying to think of what could pivot the market, and unless someone makes substantial breakthroughs in battery life (and has the budget and PR clout to convey it) and can make it substantially cheaper and subjectively better, it's not going to move the needle much.

I can think of a few others:

- Phones blowing up. - Stealing data (might matter more in the coming era of distrust in big gov and big corp) - Major improvements in camera quality

Re: Google vs. Apple – The Smartphone Race Is Over, and a New One Begins…

#47

Post by dtnewman »

rtkwe wrote: post #37
dtnewman wrote: post #24

If you look at the numbers right now, Google isn't close. In Q4 of 2015, Apple generated about 63% of it's revenues from iPhone sales [1]. That's almost 2/3rds of revenues for a $605B company. Google is nearly as large in terms of market cap (~$550B) but revenues from Android don't even come close (never-mind hardware sales, which are negligible). It's estimated that Android has brought in around $31B _total_ revenue…

I don't think Google has to personally get to the level of Apple to have "won". When comparing the two it's better to look at the whole market instead of just Google vs Apple because there's so many manufacturers for Android and only one for iPhones.

I totally agree. You can be much smaller than Apple and still win. My point is that Apple's iPhone is a behemoth, and until now, Google's Nexus phones have been a niche product. Now, they're starting to compete more directly with the Pixel, which is a truly high-end phone. But until they get meaningful sales numbers, it's still very much a niche product. I agree with the article that Google has made a phone with the _specs_ to compete. But I've heard this before and yet the iPhone still dominates the high end phone market.

Re: Google vs. Apple – The Smartphone Race Is Over, and a New One Begins…

#48

Post by delecti »

vlunkr wrote: post #33

I think this article underestimates the power of brand loyalty. Tons of customers have almost a decade of iOS under their belt, and convincing them to learn something new is often impossible because they don't care . Their iPhone is working for them. Tech people think they can list off android-only features and convince people, but it usually doesn't work that way. Only when/if their iPhone really lets them down will…

Agreed. Samsung are the ones with Google's target on their back. Until people stop thinking of the two types of phones as Samsung/Galaxy phones (meaning Android) and iPhones, Google can't have their target on Apple.

Re: Google vs. Apple – The Smartphone Race Is Over, and a New One Begins…

#49

Post by KirinDave »

jayd16 wrote: post #36

By the logic of this article, Apple won the PC space because Microsoft decided to make a laptop. And just look at those ridiculous comparison "info graphics"...

Agreed.

I do not understand how anyone reads this article and comes away with the impression it is even remotely correct.

I could barely finish it, it was so poorly written, full of questionable ideas deliberately glossed over, and ideas that just do not add up to the conclusion.

Re: Google vs. Apple – The Smartphone Race Is Over, and a New One Begins…

#50

Post by 7Z7 »

vlunkr wrote: post #28
ambirex wrote: post #8

A couple nitpicks: - Virtual Reality - still hasn't demonstrated mainstream appeal. I'm pretty bearish on it being the next 3d TV's - Resolution - Does anything north of 300dpi really matter at this point? Maybe for VR, but see above - Privacy - as data breaches become the norm, where/how do you want your data stored?

I agree, personally I think VR has interesting applications in gaming and other areas that we haven't seen yet. But you're never going to get my mom to spend money on VR.

>you're never going to get my mom to spend money on VR

We'll see how personal they can make Play With Your Grand-Kids on the Other Side of the Country™, before I make that call.

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