OSNews

This is essentially the same argument that Apple used when it ceded the bulk of the PC market to Microsoft in the early 90s.

Yeah, and looked how that turned out.

(Apple - essentially a hardware company - makes more money then Microsoft - a software company.)

Actually when Apple was recovering and growing Steve Jobs noted: "For Apple to succeed Microsoft doesn't have to fail".

Btw, revenue doesn't mean jack at the end of the day - what matter is profit, big juicy delicious profits - and quite frankly as a consumer do I purchase an iPhone with 3 years software support or do I purchase an Android phone that is abandoned after 6 months by the handset vendor? Case in point, look at the number of handsets still shipping with out of date Android and the handset vendors refusing to provide updates. Need I remind Droidboys that Samsung told a carrier in the US that they would refuse to provide software updates in favour of pushing new phones? funny how every time I raise that we have Droidboys never addressing this problem.

Edited 2011-07-28 14:25 UTC

That is a totally ridiculous comparison. No one who would buy a Hyundai would ever buy a BMW or vice versa - those are two entirely different market demographics.

If you want to use that analogy fairly, you would have to say something more along the lines of

"You don't see BMW worrying because Lexus sells more units."

That is obviously not true at all, BMW spends a considerable amount of time and energy marketing against the "econo-luxury" car makers...

Im not taking sides here, I like iOS and Android devices. But denying the fact that every Android device sold is a lost Apple sale is just sticking your head in the sand. Any steady increase in Android device volume, even if it is small, represents a serious threat to Apple.

Its not about Apple's huge margin - sure they have a gigantic advantage there. Even if they lost half their sales volume they would still likely always have the margin advantage and will make money...

Its about trajectory - something that frankly matters even more than revenue to Apple's stock price. If Apple is seen to be losing market share that could easily result in a sell-off. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together can see that they are over valued. They could easily lose more money in a week than they make in a year if that happened.

Apple's stock price represents real money - cash they have access to now that is being bet on future performance - they haven't earned a tenth of it yet...

Think about that. Android does not have that problem - there are a multitude of hardware makers and they are not riding high on a cash bubble. Facts are facts, Apple has everything to lose - Android as a platform has little...

An Android purchase is NOT Always a lost iPhone sale.
As has been said, there are different demographics in the phone market.
Those cheap android phones (eg Samsung Tocco Lite) will appeal to a very differeny buyer than an iPhone.

er um... Like me.
I want a phone. I want to send a few texts and do a bit of web browsing (weather, train times etc)
Yes I could lash out and buy an iPhone or any of the similarly priced Android devices. I have an iPod and two MacBooks so I'm not anti-apple but I've chosen a more basic phone because it does the job I want it to.

While I was browsing in my local stores the other day, I saw three phones being sold. They were all iPhone 4's. I know it is a statistically insignificant sample but one comment from one buyer was, Why are those HTC phones so expensive. Enough said?

In another five years BMW will be getting very, very nervous. Hyundai is already well on the way towards directly competing with BMW and Mercedes. Hyundai already have the highest reliability rating in the entire car industry and some of the best engines/drivetrains available.

KIA (a Hyundai subsidiary) design their cars in Germany.

Edited 2011-07-28 04:26 UTC