OSNews > Thread > "RE[3]: Did you read the article?" by tomcat

Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 10th May 2010 14:55 UTC

When Apple sued HTC, and targeted Android specifically (news which came out of the blue), many people, including myself, were convinced this was Apple letting the world know they were afraid of Android's rising popularity. This notion was laughed away by many an Apple fan, but it turns out that this is most likely far closer to reality than many dare to admit: in the first quarter of 2010, Android conquered the number two market share spot from the iPhone in the US - and by a wide margin too. Update: Added a graph which better shows the trend.

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RE[3]: Did you read the article?

by tomcat on Thu 13th May 2010 05:18 UTC in reply to "RE[2]: Did you read the article?"

Member since:
2006-01-06

1) you understand that the iphone is available to ~35% of US subscribers while the Androis is available to 100%

Part of the reason why Apple slipped to #3.

2) you presumably understand that, at some point in the future - perhaps next month perhaps in 2 years - the iPhone will be available to a much large percentage of US consumers (lets say it will double)

That speculation is not based in reality. There's no evidence that Apple is planning on expanding the set of carriers for the iPhone.

3) you understand that a good part of Android growth is 2 for 1 pricing

Something which Apple will never do. Which means that the iPhone may, in fact, slip to 10% or less of the market over time. Because it doesn't want to compete on volume. Which was the original poster's comment.

4) you surelly recognize the iPhone has not been updated in 12 months while a slew of great android devices have been launched and have been heavily promoted

Android is being rev'd at a faster rate than iPhone. If you're counting on the new iPhone to take significant market share, it would need to be an order of magnitude better. Which it won't be. Hence, incremental technological improvements aren't going to help.

So from these facts you draw the conclusion that the iPhone is headed for 10% market share? And you don't think your biased at all?

I agree with his analysis. Apple tends to squander leads in technology because it values high margins more than market share. The iPhone was revolutionary. It combined top quality hardware and software in a well-integrated package. But Android and many other competitors have those same capabilities now, and any improvements that are being made are incremental, not revolutionary. Furthermore, Apple's attempts to charge a toll for every single piece of media that we consume is going to fail.

(I have and use an iPhone every day. My next phone will be either Windows Phone 7 or Android.)

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