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Apple the only top-5 mobile phone OEM to show subscriber growth in past three months

post #1 of 26
11/4/11 at 2:22pm
Thread Starter 
Apple was the only top-5 phone manufacturer to grow its slice of the U.S. mobile subscriber market during the third quarter while its share rose above 10% for the first time, according to a new report.

Market research firm comScore said Friday that average number of U.S. mobile subscribers using iPhones during the three-month period ending September increased 1.3% to give Apple a 10.2% share of the market.

Overall, a surveyed over 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers age 13 and older found that an average of 234 million Americans used mobile devices during the third quarter.
Market leader worldwide No. 2 Samsung was the only other handset maker that didn't lose subscribers during the three month period, holding its 25.3% share with no change. LG and Motorola both showed a 0.7% decrease in subscribers, followed by RIM who shed 0.8% of the market.

The number of smartphone users rose 12% from the previous quarter with mobile platforms fighting for their share of 87.4 million subscribers. Android was the top-ranked OS with 44.8% of subscribers using handsets running Google's software, a 4.6% bump from three months ago. Apple secured its place behind Android, growing 0.8 points to hold 27.4% of the market, and RIM ranked third with a 18.9% share. Microsoft and Symbian rounded out the top five with 5.6% and 1.8% of the smartphone base, respectively.

Apple's subscriber growth comes amid a rise in the number of consumers who are turning their smartphones to perform data-centric tasks. In particular, comScore's survey found that the number of subscribers using mobile web browsers increased 2.8% to 42.9% during the third quarter, while those downloading apps jumped 3% to 42.5%.

Text messaging remained dominant with 71.1% of consumers using the feature, up 1.5% from June.
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post #2 of 26
11/4/11 at 2:39pm
Wait, I thought Android was winning.
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post #3 of 26
11/4/11 at 2:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

Wait, I thought Android was winning.

Yes, Android is kicking the iPhone's ass from here to Jericho. Ask any fandroid and they'll confirm it. What we really need is some sort of equivalency scale. For example how many cheap plastic, kludged, non-updated Android phones does it take to equal one single iPhone in quality and profits? The ratio has to be in the thousands to one. Kinda puts the "500,000 activations per day" in perspective doesn't it.
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post #4 of 26
11/4/11 at 2:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

Wait, I thought Android was winning.

Android is winning. Handset makers and platforms are not the same thing. The iOS platform grew .8% and Android grew 4.6%. That doesn't mean Apple is going to go away, die or anything like that but focusing on a smaller number and ignoring the broader picture does no favors for Apple.

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post #5 of 26
11/4/11 at 2:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post

Yes, Android is kicking the iPhone's ass from here to Jericho. Ask any fandroid and they'll confirm it. What we really need is some sort of equivalency scale. For example how many cheap plastic, kludged, non-updated Android phones does it take to equal one single iPhone in quality and profits? The ratio has to be in the thousands to one. Kinda puts the "500,000 activations per day" in perspective doesn't it.

Well, that's a happily ignorant statement.

How many iPhones does it take to equal one Galaxy Nexus?

See that? That's also an ignorant statement.
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post #6 of 26
11/4/11 at 3:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post

Yes, Android is kicking the iPhone's ass from here to Jericho. Ask any fandroid and they'll confirm it. What we really need is some sort of equivalency scale. For example how many cheap plastic, kludged, non-updated Android phones does it take to equal one single iPhone in quality and profits? The ratio has to be in the thousands to one. Kinda puts the "500,000 activations per day" in perspective doesn't it.

Oh and buy one POS get one POS free deal!
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post #7 of 26
11/4/11 at 3:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shidell View Post

Well, that's a happily ignorant statement.

How many iPhones does it take to equal one Galaxy Nexus?

See that? That's also an ignorant statement.

Yeah, it is. Except that deep down we all know the answer is .4
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post #8 of 26
11/4/11 at 3:27pm
Apple doesn't have subscribers. Apple sells phones. Users subscribe to phone service with the cell providers.
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post #9 of 26
11/4/11 at 4:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by trumptman View Post

Android is winning. Handset makers and platforms are not the same thing. The iOS platform grew .8% and Android grew 4.6%. That doesn't mean Apple is going to go away, die or anything like that but focusing on a smaller number and ignoring the broader picture does no favors for Apple.

And when you look at the 0.8% growth it is primarily in income brackets with substantial disposable income while Androids 4.6% is on the lower end.

Any business person would rather have 0.8% of a market that spends a ton of money than 4.6% of a market that doesn't spend any.
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post #10 of 26
11/4/11 at 4:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patranus View Post

And when you look at the 0.8% growth it is primarily in income brackets with substantial disposable income while Androids 4.6% is on the lower end.

Any business person would rather have 0.8% of a market that spends a ton of money than 4.6% of a market that doesn't spend any.

Just to clarify... when a consumer gets a "free" phone from a carrier... the manufacturer still gets paid the full amount for the phone.

Granted it's not a $600 phone... but the manufacturers still get money from them.
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post #11 of 26
11/4/11 at 5:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


how many cheap plastic, kludged, non-updated Android phones does it take to equal one single iPhone

Every Android phone in the whole world, all put together, can't even equal ONE single iPhone.
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post #12 of 26
11/4/11 at 5:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patranus View Post

And when you look at the 0.8% growth it is primarily in income brackets with substantial disposable income while Androids 4.6% is on the lower end.

I would think that large parts of Apple's current and short-term future growth will be derived from the FreeGS.

I would also think that Apple will serve the largest portion of the broadest demographic it can penetrate. The days of Apple being some sort of "elite" thing are quickly passing. The FreeGS demographic will increasingly be targeted by Apple.
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post #13 of 26
11/4/11 at 6:03pm
This is good news for lesser known brands such as Huawei and ZTE, obviously they are where Android growth is coming from, if the A players are holding steady or declining slightly.

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"The cobbler's children have no shoes", is a saying that applies a lot to companies who provide products and services. -KDarling on Google Search.

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post #14 of 26
11/4/11 at 6:20pm
But maybe the error belongs to comScore?

If you look at comScores monthly releases, they have used the following statement with the same 234 million number of users since last December. That is as far as I went back so it could have been even longer. The only change in the statement is the month being updated

I think that it seems a little odd that the 3 month average has not increased in 10 months. Or is the mobile phone market done growing in the U.S.?

comScores statements:

For the three-month average period ending in December, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices.

For the three-month average period ending in March, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices.

For the three-month average period ending in September, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices.
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post #15 of 26
11/4/11 at 6:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

Wait, I thought Android was winning.

The numbers include both smartphones and feature phones.

Total Samsung mobile phone sales are flat because, whilst their smartphone sales are up, their feature phone sales are down. LG is down because their smartphone sales are not making up for the decline in their feature phones.

Apple's mobile phone sales are up because they don't have feature phones to drag down the numbers.
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post #16 of 26
11/4/11 at 8:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

Wait, I thought Android was winning.

I don't believe any of the Android numbers that are regularly thrown out there, for a second. The only data we have are either consulting firms' "estimates" or the handset makers' "shipments". I.e., it's mostly bogus.

I've not seen a single Android handset maker (or Google) ever provide audited sales (as in "revenue recognized") figures in their financial filings.

I'd love to be proved wrong.
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post #17 of 26
11/4/11 at 10:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

Wait, I thought Android was winning.

What do you mean, win? Win what? Most fragments ever sold?
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post #18 of 26
11/4/11 at 11:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ConradJoe View Post

Every Android phone in the whole world, all put together, can't even equal ONE single iPhone.

I like the iPhones also but I still think your comment is a bit of a stretch.
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post #19 of 26
11/4/11 at 11:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eriamjh View Post

Apple doesn't have subscribers. Apple sells phones. Users subscribe to phone service with the cell providers.

Actually the article states that the share of U.S. mobile subscribers using iPhones has increased.
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post #20 of 26
11/5/11 at 12:13am
one thing to note is that Samsung's smart phone growth increased over the last quarter while their over all market share stayed roughly the same. What does this mean? They are moving more people off of feature phones to Smartphones. Same with LG and many of the other giant OEMs like Motorola. They have both Smartphones and basic phones. They are not selling more smart phones and less feature phones.
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post #21 of 26
11/5/11 at 7:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ConradJoe View Post

Every Android phone in the whole world, all put together, can't even equal ONE single iPhone.

haha... Every object in the world smashed together would still be less than one iPhone
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post #22 of 26
11/5/11 at 8:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post

Yes, Android is kicking the iPhone's ass from here to Jericho. Ask any fandroid and they'll confirm it. What we really need is some sort of equivalency scale. For example how many cheap plastic, kludged, non-updated Android phones does it take to equal one single iPhone in quality and profits? The ratio has to be in the thousands to one. Kinda puts the "500,000 activations per day" in perspective doesn't it.

It doesn't matter how inexpensive or low-quality Android smartphones are. In Wall Street's eyes, Android is winning and will continue to win. Wall Street may be wrong, but that's still how they see it. Android devices got a later start than Apple's iPhone and blew right by the iPhone's sales numbers within a very short time. Wall Street lives by "The cheaper the product, the more you can sell." philosopy. I see it all the time that volume is always preferred over quality on Wall Street. Analysts were always saying, "Apple needs to lower iPhone prices in order to sell more smartphones." That's just how they think. They truly believe that cheap and choice will always lure more consumers than quality. It may be true.

It will probably impossible for the higher-quality iPhone to outsell six or seven major Android vendors to gain majority smartphone market share and that's what Wall Street sees. It won't matter for Apple since Apple is already making the majority of profits from the smartphone sector. If the iPhone ever got close to majority market share, their profit share would probably be up around 90%.

Wall Street is impressed with activation numbers. Who knows how many of those activated Android smartphones got returned or users were unhappy with. It doesn't matter. iOS is not being looked upon as the most dominant force when it comes to smartphone sales. Android OS is. That's likely why Apple is being devalued as a company. I don't believe Apple will be able to change Wall Street's attitude unless they started selling cheap, low quality smartphones which is not going to happen.
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post #23 of 26
11/5/11 at 9:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Constable Odo View Post


In Wall Street's eyes,

Wall Street may be wrong, but that's still how they see it.

Wall Street lives by

volume is always preferred over quality on Wall Street.

Analysts were always saying,

That's just how they think.

They truly believe that

that's what Wall Street sees.

Wall Street is impressed with

iOS is not being looked upon

change Wall Street's attitude



Apple stock is doing quite well, thanks. So ISTM that "Wall Street" doesn't "see... say... [or] believe" much of any of this stuff.

Just saying.
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post #24 of 26
11/5/11 at 1:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

Wait, I thought Android was winning.

Depends on the metric of the day, surely.
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post #25 of 26
11/6/11 at 10:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by trumptman View Post

Android is winning. Handset makers and platforms are not the same thing. The iOS platform grew .8% and Android grew 4.6%. That doesn't mean Apple is going to go away, die or anything like that but focusing on a smaller number and ignoring the broader picture does no favors for Apple.

That probably USED to be the case -- the common logic -- in the desktop world.

But let's look at the iPhone resale numbers, the comparison of build quality (estimated $2 Billion to be spent in support and replacement on Android phones), and the gross profits (4% of all phones sold, 64% of profits).

The large number of cheap netbooks sold, is a loss leader for many companies without a future market share increase -- whomever is selling the CHEAPEST/GOOD ENOUGH netbook or smart phone is going to be a market share winner -- but that isn't going to translate into control of the market. It's likely more a sign of desperation as companies undercut each other.

Samsung might not "die" overnight, but I'm sure that a lot of the Android platform manufacturers are probably NOT going to be selling smart phones in 2 years.


>> Without REAL profits on the phone -- that means that subsidizing the phone comes from datamining and advertisements. The CUSTOMER for google is not the phone purchaser, but the advertiser.

Android phones are probably NOT going to have a great customer retention record. They are more likely going to be "cheap upfront" but nightmares of Phishing, broken phones, and compatibility as upgrading the phone, or having apps work on ALL phones on all platforms is an iffy proposition.

>> The OLD paradigm of the "do it yourself" Desktop Computer is not going to work in the Smart Phone realm -- and I predict that SIRI is going to be a serious nail in the coffin for any profits for Google.

Steve Jobs got pissed at yet another "wolf in sheep's clothing" from Google doing the same thing that Bill Gates did -- and he is going to get his revenge from beyond the grave.
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post #26 of 26
11/6/11 at 11:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robodude View Post

Depends on the metric of the day, surely.

Android is "winning" when someone wants a "smart phone" please and cannot afford the iPhone because they are trying to find the cheapest plan/phone -- that's MY MARKET actually.

I doubt that the "sales per phone" of applications on Android is anywhere near the iPhone. You have your calendar, your texting keyboard, and maybe download "Angry Birds" and a few novelties like that.

But the Android phone is the default -- not the preference. It's the Acer computer of the cell phone world.

Other than a few Uber Geeks on Slashdot -- I doubt anybody REALLY wanted an Android for Christmas, but the parents relented and got the best deal they could.

Android will be replaced by the next Android-like phone. Google will do OK in this, because the next "Android-like" phone will likely be from Samsung or another vendor. The Vendors however, won't get much out of this situation, as the have to compete with Apple and cannot get the same procurement.

Microsoft, Nokia, Blackberry - they are going to probably fade from existence in this market -- as they are not quite good enough as the Android on the lower tier. So A "win-phone" gets crowded out by Android Crap Phone 1, 2 or 3. It's a great strategy of Google's to not get into the hardware end as this 2nd rung Smart Phone market will be a bloodbath of feature and spec competition without any real profits to innovate.

And customizing Android to make a company stand out, is just another tech support nightmare that the Phone companies take on -- NOT Google.

>> But I doubt that Google will have any loyal customers or vendors out of this race to 2nd place.
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