Android gaining on Apple iOS in mobile web market share - Page 9

Being a huge "Twit Network" fan it's funny listening to Leo Laporte go on and on about the iPhone coming to Verizon.

Agree with who?

And how do you explain the good sales in other countries, where the iPhone is available on multiple carriers?

Why would you compare Android phone sales to MP3 Player sales? You say "we can't ignore the iPod Touch". When we are discussing phones, why can't we ignore a PMP?

.

After watching an iPad commercial, i bought Star Walk...

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/star-...363486802?mt=8

You gotta' see this app-- you have the night skies, all the planets and constellations at your fingertips...

Your own personal galaxy... it is truly magical.


Screw content creation vs content consumption... this is the thrill of exploration, discovery, and all that, that brings.

Here is a $5 app that will pay for the iPad many times over...


IMO, this validates the iPad platform (and those that follow), vs the computers of today,

Step out into the night at Kitt Peak, Griffith Park, or in the hot tub, back in your own back yard.

The universe is your playground...


I can visualize no better way to do this...


This is Archimedes lever...


Sorry, I am excited!

.

Look at the title of this thread-- we aren't discussing phones, we're discussing Android vs iOS on the mobile web.

It's not Apple's fault that Android (currently) addresses this market with only one type of device (phones) while Apple addresses it with phones, iPods, and Tablets!

.

Removed-- duplicate

I don't know who you are addressing; has anyone said that? Of the friends who chose Android, about half are Apple-haters and would simply never buy Apple anything, including the ubiquitous iPod, no matter how good it is (in general, they're just harboring old prejudices, and aren't giving Apple a fair shake, IMO). Some of these friends are Microsoft fans and have expressed interest in the Windows Phone alternative to iPhone. The other half would buy Apple, but don't want to sign up with AT&T, and are holding out hope that iPhone exclusivity will end in the US. I think there will always be a market for iPhone alternatives. I just don't know the size of that market, because Apple has limited themselves to AT&T. But since more people want to switch from Android to iPhone (when carrier exclusivity ends) than the other way around, Apple still has room to grow, so the final market percentages have not fallen into place.

And none of these reasons for choosing Android requires anyone making uninformed choices or being poor or stupid!

throughout this thread are multiple statements that Android occupies the low end (hence the cheap or poor) and regarding how horrible the Android phones are (hence the stupid).

I believe that the standard, prudent advice is that you should probably sell some of your shares to cash in some of your profits. What proportion of your shares should you sell? It's up to you to decide.

No one can predict with accuracy the date of death of Steve Jobs or the date of his retirement, but death is a certainty and the liver transplant of Steve Jobs is a matter of public record. Prudent investors never deny facts or reality. Good luck and congratulations for your profits on paper. Make them a reality.

This argument will become a double-edged sword soon. The Android tablets are coming and there are a few MP3 players using it too, so hopefully future numbers like these will take that into account and will be a bit more "balanced".

Question I have is what happens when Android starts showing up in all kinds of kitchen appliances and home media devices? Will the usual people who call these numbers "FUD" and "skewed" continue to do so if the analysis starts counting those appliances too?

If they can run most apps, sure. If not, who cares. If Android 1.2 is on a kitchen appliance and the appliance has no access to the app market it doesnt matter.

In terms of installed base of it's latest iOS Apple are way ahead of Android. That will continue. Most counter arguments ignore the touch, the iPad, and the carrier restrictions in the US - the only reason for Android's gain.

The iOS is a bigger development environment. We are just going around in circles arguing anything else.

Same OS. The title of this thead is

Android (OS) gaining on Apple iOS( OS) in mobile web market share.

So we compare OSes, not devices.

Lol.

No most people on this site are Apple fans. Have a look at the name. In real life I dont recommend Apple to anybody as it may incur a unwanted technical role. And, APple dont pay me.

BUT, this is an Apple site. APPLEinsider.

Get it?

I don't see many items running Android (production or concept) that doesn't allow the use of apps in some way. While things like toasters probably wouldn't make sense having an internet connection, I don't see why others like a fridge couldn't have a wireless connection to look up recipes, news, weather, or have a digital white board that you can update while you're out. Just speculations on my part.

The other thing that I believe will eventually help Android is on the TV side. Sony will embed Android into some of their new TVs, Google TV is due to be released this fall, and now Samsung has also decided to jump onto the bandwagon. While it's still yet to be determined how successful Android in a TV will be, having trusted, major TV players like Sony, Logitech and Samsung behind it will help. If this takes off, it will take off big, since a TV is something we all have in our homes.

At the moment, yes, iOS is a bigger development environment, but as long as Android continues on the path it's on, it will catch up on the overall scale.

For the record, a few of the other recent analysis by these third-party companies do make note that they are gathering data for smartphones only but still uses the title "Android vs. iOS". Then comes along the die-hard Apple fan with the counter arguments to these analysis on the same basis that it doesn't include iPod/iPad numbers and should be considered FUD. All I'm saying here (and I think you'd agree) is that we should read what the analysis' data is comprised of before jumping to conclusions.

Since Android is the Os for many hardware manufactures, this trend is going to continue unless Apples keep selling more iDevices than all other decices combine, which I dont think doable.

BUT, has long has iOS has plenty of apps, this wont be a problem. It could become a problem if iOS gets below 10% and Android gets above 50%, in which case maybe some sites and dev wont be so eager to make iOS apps.

Why not?

the automatic assumption that you win because you have more manufacturers is not proven in this market. This is not the PC market, Nokia and RIM were dominant before the iPhone came in - in terms of market share both are down but not out. They are not really app phones at the moment, imo, but nevertheless they dominated before the iPhone. The manufacturers carrying Windows did not. Windows was licensed.

all you need to do is have a large product line, and a brand and be on all carriers.

Everything is made in a few factories in China anyway - this is not the Eighties where the Apple made use of in-house non-standard components ( the A4 is available to Samsung) and manufactured in their own factories; so APple wont have the supply issues and higher costs. The iPad is cheaper than the Galaxy Tab, the iPhones are competitive in price with similarly specced Android phones, and the iPod touches are a steal for what you get. In fact Apple are holding onto higher margins on the iPhone, but they can go lower, as the iPod shows. Eventually they will. And on the iPad too.

I see them positioning the 3GS as their cheap smart phone device. In a year or so it will be free on mid-range contracts.

Interesing post on margins here:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2240...s?source=yahoo

here is what google's CEO said on IFA

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has used his IFA 2010 closing keynote to promise Google TVs US launch in the fall, as well as confirming that users will be able to turn not only their Android phones but their iPhone into a remote control for the media-streaming set top boxes. Schmidt also revealed that there are more than 200,000 Android activations recorded every day, a figure that falls short of the 230,000 iOS device activations Steve Jobs reported last week.

http://www.slashgear.com/google-tv-c...midt-07101147/

Its not the number of manufacturers. Nothing from HTC or Motorola has been especially innovative to differentiate their phones from the iPhone. If a bigger screen or a slightly higher megapixal camera floats your boat, then go for one of their phones, but I don't think that is what is swaying most people to Android phones. And Apple has managed to keep the (retail) price of the iPhone the same, even though the price they charge to the carriers is higher, so that's not the reason. Its the carrier, and as long as the iPhone is only on AT&T, Apple will continue to lose marketshare to Android.

I have read a number of your posts, and as a general rule, they are argumentative and contrived. What is your purpose?

The post to which I had responded asserted that people bought Android for precisely two reasons: firesales and the fact that on Verizon, you cannot buy Apple. I was merely pointing out that that perspective was missing the more obvious and more certain fact that the popularity of Android is strongly correlated to the quantity of different manufacturers that sell phones that use Andoid as the OS. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

But then you come along and start yapping at my heels like some sort of little Chihuahua. You wrote, "These things are not mysterious", and then you proceeded into something that just barely managed to make any sense at all. This is blatantly arrogant and insulting.

Before you reached that point, you wrote, "Every manufacturer could like it, but that does not matter one bit."

This is patently false, and your entire position is nothing more than a goofy contrivance. As long as there is a meaningful correlation between the number of manufacturers who sell phones using a particular OS and the market share of that OS, then the number of manufacturers who like it is entirely relevant. In the given context, "like it" means selling a product that uses that OS, and this would be obvious to any person who thinks in any reasonable manner.

Your whole argument is nothing more than a goofy contrivance, worded in a horrifically arrogant and insulting style. You have taken up a quarrel with nearly half of the other people who have posted anything here. What exactly is your purpose? To piss off as many people as you possibly can? Whatever it is that you think that you are accomplishing, all you are really doing is causing other people to think that you are an arrogant something-or-other who does not really have much at all to offer and who isn't possessed of a particularly high level of intelligence or reasoning capacity.

Your reasoning makes no sense. Return on investment is not defined purely by the payment of dividends. That you would imply this is preposterous. There are lots of companies that doe not routinely pay dividends, if at all, but people still buy the stock in the expectation of getting a return on their investment. Your argument is nonsensical.

And as for the last part of your post, it has nothing to do with what I said or what the original poster had said. I certainly never said anything along the lines that Apple ought to license iOS. It never ceases to boggle my mind how people on these forums will repudiate something that was never actually said by the person that they are ostensibly repudiating. Sheesh. What rock do you people crawl out from under?

I didn't mean it as an argument-- just to correct the OP that the thread was discussing OSes not devices.'

I am all for discussing the benefits and popularity of A vs B-- but I don't think it makes sense to arbitrarily skew the comparison one way or another, e.g., these would seem to be valid and useful comparisons:

-- Usage/popularity/avg price of All Android phones vs All iOS phones
-- Usage/popularity/features/price of phone A vs phone B
-- Usage/popularity across all devices, of Android OS vs iOS vs Win Mobil OS vs WebOS...

At present, Apple has an advantage in the latter comparison because its iOS runs on more different types of devices. I expect this to change as other OSes will be used on new types of devices coming in the near future,

I do not think it valid or useful to make comparisons like:
-- All Android phones vs iOS across all devices
-- All iPhones vs all devices Running Android OS (or any OS)


I understand that Android OS (and to some degree, WinMobile, WebOS, etc.) will, likely, be used on other devices from MP3 players, Tablets to Set Top Boxes.

What I don't know is how adaptable these OSes are to other non-phone devices. Consider, Apple was not able to just move iOS from the phone to the iPad. They decided that it was necessary to temporarily fork iOS to add APIs and frameworks to support the larger screen size -- the iPad was announced in January, and started shipping in April. The iPad will be upgraded in November to use the same iOS as the other iDevices. That means that, for whatever reasons, it has taken Apple almost 11 months to incorporate iPad capabilities into their mainstream iOS.

It's more than just screen size-- many apps need to be redesigned to exploit the additional real estate.

For example, Apple's Mail and Calendar apps on the iPad are completely different than the same app on an iPhone, the web (Mobile Me), or even a Mac. There is more information, and it is displayed differently-- the app is a different app than other implementations. New APIs and Frameworks were added to iOS to make this possible.

I don't know enough about Android to know if this is an issue affecting its use on tablets-- though I have read a few comments that it is (or may be).

I don't have any citations or links (I will try to find some and update this post). But I read sometime, in the last few days, an article about an upcoming Android tablet-- the Samsung, I think. Noteworthy was the claimed advantage, that the mfgr. had decided that a better UI was required for the mail app on the tablet-- and that they had written their own UI similar to the iPad mail app.

Apple thought it necessary to fork iPad iOS for 11 months to make it robust enough to support this new class of device.

An honest question: has Google found the need to do the same with Android?


Finally, I agree that we will, likely, see Android (and other OSes) in home media devices. But, I am less sure that there is a need for this class of OS in a kitchen appliance (refrigerator, oven, etc.) or even in HVAC, lighting or home security.

For these "home appliances" it may be more logical to have the appliance contain a small dedicated controller/sensor hub that can interface the appliance to a more robust central hub running a more general OS. Do I really want the fridge to keep track of its contents and maintain a shopping list, budget spreadsheet, etc.

Rather, it makes more sense to do this on the combination of a personal computer/set top box/mobile device:

1) I create/update my shopping list on my computer or what ever mobile device is handy and sync to all
2) I Samba through the supermarket, checking off items on my mobile, as I drop them in my basket.
3) I ChaCha up to the checkout where the sales are rung up.
4) I Bump my mobile with the checkout terminal-- it gets my payment, I get a detailed electronic receipt (including "Use By Date" on perishables.
5) Once home, I Fandango up to the Fridge and restock it and the Pantry
6) I Mambo up to my Mac and Bump my receipt into it,

All is good! My computer, and every device synced or within WiFi range; knows what I have, where it is, how much it cost, when to use it.

Then I Danza up to the Display (or mobile) in my kitchen -- it suggest recipes based on recent meals, ingredient availability, "Use By Date", etc.

With a few quick Tango steps I Tap each ingredient as I use it-- removing it from stock.


The Lambada handles the Leftovers!


Seriously, I don't really think I need a TV or a computer in my refrigerator. Why? I can buy an iPad, or similar device, probably for less money... and it is portable and more flexible. Same reason I don't buy an entertainment system for the car!

.

It's good and so is Google Sky Map for free at
http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.goog...roid.stardroid

The web version of it is at http://www.google.com/sky/

Well said!

.

Ah... Google did not make an iOS version, so I can't test it on a mobile device. I don't expect this type of app works as well on a small phone display as on a larger tablet. I suspect Google will make a different implementation to exploit the advantages of tablet devices, as they become available on Android.


The web version looks interesting-- but this supports my original point that there just isn't a better way to do this than on a tablet.

I don't mean this as a commercial for the iPad-- rather its a validation of the Apple's concept of a tablet platform. This platform/concept can't do everything that some other platform/concepts can do. Conversely, there are some things that this platform/concept can do that are better than anything we've seen to date. Like, the GUI, many future products will build upon this platform/concept.

Seriously, you go out to the back yard, lay on the grass*, and hold this "window to the universe" up to the sky. It is like Augmented Reality for the galaxy. As you move the display moves with you, highlighting constellations, planets, asteroid showers...

You can move backward or forward in time...

* It doesn't matter if the sky is clear or cloudy-- and you don't really need to go outside and lay on the grass (the sky is there whether you can see it or not).

I do think that size is important-- a phone is too small to get the effect. An iPad is much better! Likely, the perfect size (and weight) is somewhere in the 7-11 inch range.

.

I don't think I want to pay $5 to test this out on my iPad to see the difference. But in some ways, it's actually better on the phone because it's much lighter and easier to move it around - especially when you are searching for a planet or star. Which is very cool with the circled-arrow turning from blue to red as you move in the direction of the arrow. But the content itself will no dount look better on a bigger display. The first thing I noticed with my iPad is the weight. It's simply too heavy. The Samsung Tab is terrific at half the weight, but the display is too small. Not to mention that there is no way I'm paying for another contract. Not when I have free wifi hot spot on my Vibrant.

In any event, this is a really really cool app. Especially when you have small kids around the house like I do. One day my son was upset and my wife sat with him and to distract him, pointed to a star in the sky. He got caught up in the story and my wife pulled out the phone and found out that the name of the star was "Difida". Now my son uses Google Sky every so often and searches for Difida as its location keeps changing. Cherish-able moments brought about by some fantastic technology.

I can remember, as a young kid (before Television and Air Conditioning) sitting on the porch, on a warm Minnesota Summer night, with my parents and siblings... looking up at the night sky (no street lights to distract). The parents would point out the constellations and tell us the stories about them (we ooohed and aaahed -- but we couldn't really see them). At best we could find and identify the Big Dipper, the North Star and the Little Dipper. Later, older and wiser, even Orion's belt. Looking for shooting stars, but never seeing them, either.

A few years ago I was able to pass on the experience to my (then) 9-year-old granddaughter.

I was as thrilled as she was!

Last night, I handed her my iPad with the app running..

Your last sentence says it all!

.

I use the google Sky app on my Droid all of the time and really like it. I bought my Niece an iPad and she loves the iPad App. She is vision impaired and for her to be able to see the night sky is a big thrill for her. It is does look better on the 10" screen.....

The only reason i got my BB Storm last year was because i didn't want AT&T... otherwise i'd've gotten an iPhone in a heartbeat... but since my BB got smashed, i now just have a flip phone... i kinda enjoy the old fashioned thing; it sends and receives txts and calls, and thats all you really need a phone for, right??

I have heard of many large health care, pharma, gov, edu, finance and retail companies already testing the iPad for integration to their mobile workforce. iPad device management will be key for these companies as they already may have 1000's of Blackberry, Symbian, WinMobile or Droid devices. Using a third party MDM solution like AirWatch makes it possible to manage from one console, web-based or hosted.