Funny, compared to the image shown in the AI report, the iPhone results don't look nearly as good--and the Droid results look significantly better--in this image posted on MOTO Labs' website:
You should see the Android fanboys over on Engadget making all types of excuses for the Droid's performance. They're coming with classics like...
"it's not the Droid itself, it's the drivers..."
"iphone has less resolution"
"Seems to me like the robot was designed around the iphone? I am sure the robot path can be made perfect on any single phone and then when you use that same path on other phones it doesn't work so well."
But you know, Robots are Apple fanboys too.
oh yea my favorite one is "the robot is designed for the iphone"...
lmao....woohooo, I almost fell out of my chair...to think that someone would design a robot to fake a test...they will say anything..
Are the iPhone's LCD panel and touch sensors designed by Apple?
Does it make a difference? Apple chose to use that technology. Apple knew how good their touchscreen is. Apple pays attention to details. Do you think the iPad touchscreen tech, wherever it's from, will be miraculously inexplicably crap? This is Apple we're talking about. If the device sports an Apple logo, you know right out of the gate that its touchscreen will be excellent, whether Apple designed the LCD panel/touch sensors or not.
These are the things that set Apple apart from the also-rans.
Android market is developing at speed of light, so many new models appearing each year and competing with each other, trying to be better then the one before them... such chaotic environment, while not the best from manufacturers' point of view (as they are forced to keep pushing development all the time and cannot milk one solution for too long) does force technology progress at much more accelerated rate.
Think of where Android phones were in 2007 and where they are now, and think of where iPhone was in 2007 and where it is now; Android went from non-existence to some of most advanced smart phones on the market, and they have just started, while iPhone hasn't really changed that much at all. Here's hope that iPhone 4 will be significantly improved, but somehow I doubt that.
If Android continues to improve at current rate - and they seem to have momentum - I don't think anyone will be able to follow them, not Apple, not Microsoft, not RIM. With so many good phone hardware manufacturers having knowledge, experience and technology to create great devices, all that was required was good enough software platform, and it is just possible Google has provided exactly that.
I don't have doubts that RIM will keep nice share of business users, iPhone will retain enough loyals and people more concerned about smooth experience then with performance and features, while MS might find it's place with good integration on Exchange, Office, SharePoint levels... but if I'd have to bet on single platform to dominate in the next 5 years, I'd say Android has the best chances.
Android market is developing at speed of light, so many new models appearing each year and competing with each other, trying to be better then the one before them... such chaotic environment, while not the best from manufacturers' point of view (as they are forced to keep pushing development all the time and cannot milk one solution for too long) does force technology progress at much more accelerated rate.
Think of where Android phones were in 2007 and where they are now, and think of where iPhone was in 2007 and where it is now; Android went from non-existence to some of most advanced smart phones on the market, and they have just started, while iPhone hasn't really changed that much at all. Here's hope that iPhone 4 will be significantly improved, but somehow I doubt that.
If Android continues to improve at current rate - and they seem to have momentum - I don't think anyone will be able to follow them, not Apple, not Microsoft, not RIM. With so many good phone hardware manufacturers having knowledge, experience and technology to create great devices, all that was required was good enough software platform, and it is just possible Google has provided exactly that.
I don't have doubts that RIM will keep nice share of business users, iPhone will retain enough loyals and people more concerned about smooth experience then with performance and features, while MS might find it's place with good integration on Exchange, Office, SharePoint levels... but if I'd have to bet on single platform to dominate in the next 5 years, I'd say Android has the best chances.
After three years, even Google's best effort, still aint no iPhone.
Apple's found that winning sweet-spot between software and hardware.
Google should fear June. It'll be a bad month for the competition. Apple has all the momentum on its side, with iPhone development breeding iPad development, and vice-versa.
Google sells a lot of Android phones. Plenty of models. But no single Android phone outsells the iPhone. Why? Because Google doesn't have what it takes - no one does so far - to roll out a real iPhone-Killer.
I love how every time we get a positive article about the iPhone (which is pretty much always), someone has to throw in a "but Android is growing" comment. Yeah, we know. The more Google whores out its "open" OS to any and all takers, the more volume they can push. Apple is in third place behind two hugely entrenched players, and only has a couple of models and in the US is limited to a single carrier. That's not just growth, it's outright conquest, the likes of which has never been experienced before in this market. And Apple *still* sets the bar after three years.
Reading the new AI article about the military going to Apple, which is already using Apple products extensively, I was thinking more along the lines of Umbrella Corp. from Resident Evil.
Nah. there was an article on AnandTech about US Army signing a contract with Microsoft about accepting Windows Vista for desktop platform for next 5 or so years.
Yes, Windows Vista, not 7. Figure that out. Maybe Army likes the idea that Vista will be less exposed with people moving from XP to 7, thus leaving Vista as almost exclusive product for Army. Who knows? Anyway, number was 800,000 desktops - not bad for a single contract.
One of my colleagues was IT in German Army and took part in some NATO operations at his time, and while he did leave service 5 years ago, at the time everything was Windows, with some obscure Linux applications. I would expect that NATO is following US Army IT trends and standards pretty strictly.
Yes military might try different solutions for different applications, but mainstream those solutions will not be...
Think of where Android phones were in 2007 and where they are now, and think of where iPhone was in 2007 and where it is now; Android went from non-existence to some of most advanced smart phones on the market, and they have just started, while iPhone hasn't really changed that much at all. Here's hope that iPhone 4 will be significantly improved, but somehow I doubt that.
.
Depends on your definition of "most advanced smart phones" actually means. In my opinion, Apple has a superior total package compared to an Android phone. Apple puts in a huge amount of effort to provide the best possible hardware/software/integration experience around. This robotic test is just one piece of it.
Android fanboys seem to think that what matters is highest resolution, brightest display, opensource, < insert more wannabe items here >. Who cares if it's all a chaotic free-for-all, where multiple manufacturers make their own Android flavors and there is no consistency.
I still use my original iPhone 2g. It's "dated" by your standards. But I have a current OS, everything still works great, and I know that Apple will continue making it the best product the can and continue improving the functionality of my 2-year-old piece of hardware.
Do they think they'll be able to say the same thing two years from now with their current Android phone? Do they really think their phone maker will waste the time and effort to port the new Android OS to their 2-year-old phone? Think about it. That's a subject none of them are really bringing up. There's no incentive for Motorola (for example) to port Android 3.x to the current phone after six months has gone by.
After three years, even Google's best effort, still aint no iPhone.
Apple's found that winning sweet-spot between software and hardware.
Yes, Android is still not as polished as iPhone OS. However, it does remind me at OSX/Windows situation as observed by Apple fans, with iPhone being about "user experience" while Android catering for economy smartphone shoppers on one side and performance/feature rich shoppers on the other.
Quote:
Google should fear June. It'll be a bad month for the competition. Apple has all the momentum on its side, with iPhone development breeding iPad development, and vice-versa.
No, I don't think so. Looking at recent stats, Google momentum is much higher then iPhone, Google expanding their market share significantly while iPhone stagnating. iPhone 4 will boost sales, but I have gut feeling Android is taking hype off iPhone now and more frequent updates, both hardware and software, will keep that hype for a while.
Quote:
Google sells a lot of Android phones. Plenty of models. But no single Android phone outsells the iPhone. Why? Because Google doesn't have what it takes - no one does so far - to roll out a real iPhone-Killer.
I don't see your point. We are talking platform here, not single model. If Apple decided to have more models in current generation, they would dilute sales of each model but total would be as good, if not better.
Quote:
I love how every time we get a positive article about the iPhone (which is pretty much always), someone has to throw in a "but Android is growing" comment. Yeah, we know. The more Google whores out its "open" OS to any and all takers, the more volume they can push. Apple is in third place behind hugely entrenched players, and only has a couple of models. That's not just growth, it's outright conquest, the likes of which has never been experienced before in this market. And Apple *still* sets the bar after three years.
Conquest? Last time I've checked here at AI it was stagnation. Apple was deep in trenches, no more blitzkrieg. Maybe 4 will move them forward. I don't, however, think that iPhone can move forward as quick as Android - which is the main problem the way I see it. They've just lost their momentum. 3 years of minor updates (which is not much different from what Apple does with their PCs) didn't help much. iPhone is still good device (not so good phone) but technological marvel it ain't no more. A friend of mine - who is one of those gadget lovers - just dumped his 3G and got Nexus One... first Android among my friends. I'm still happy with my 3Gs, but when replacement time comes... we'll see.
"Our competitors can't touch this... at least not accurately."
Because you can't put it on a spec sheet, so they focused on the display resolution, OLED, CPU clockrate, etc. while ignoring anything to do with the user experience.
As always. Apple thinks: "The phone is the screen. Touch is the UI. Therefore, we need to make absolutely sure that we get that part exactly right before anything else.
As far as I can make out, pretty much everybody else thinks "specs and features" first, as a way of getting some market differentiation, and getting all the little things right doesn't really rank very high on the to-do list. Good enough prevails, as always.
Of course, it helps if your target market are Pavlovian about OMG!!!AWESOME!!!!! spec numbers, and will start chanting about how the latest "beast" will "crush" and "destroy" because of the hardware it's "packing" etc. Sometimes I think actual difference between Apple and the competition is that they explicitly want to sell things to someone other than adolescent boys. And everybody else just hopes there's enough adolescent boy in enough people to keep doing what they're doing.
Yes, Android is still not as polished as iPhone OS. However, it does remind me at OSX/Windows situation as observed by Apple fans, with iPhone being about "user experience" while Android catering for economy smartphone shoppers on one side and performance/feature rich shoppers on the other.
And yet Apple makes more profit than any other vendor in both the PC and cellular handset markets.
Quote:
No, I don't think so. Looking at recent stats, Google momentum is much higher then iPhone, Google expanding their market share significantly while iPhone stagnating. iPhone 4 will boost sales, but I have gut feeling Android is taking hype off iPhone now and more frequent updates, both hardware and software, will keep that hype for a while.
Growth, yes, because they are coming from much lower marketshare and have released new product more recently, but I doubt the momentum is higher. Hell, even the iPhone being released to the 4th carrier in the UK in January, 2010 sold more units than the Nexus One in their first week of sales.
Quote:
I Conquest? Last time I've checked here at AI it was stagnation. Apple was deep in trenches, no more blitzkrieg. Maybe 4 will move them forward. I don't, however, think that iPhone can move forward as quick as Android - which is the main problem the way I see it. They've just lost their momentum.
YoY growth percentage slowing does not equate to stagnation. Look at the YoY unit sales and you'll see growth is still very strong.
Quote:
3 years of minor updates (which is not much different from what Apple does with their PCs) didn't help much. iPhone is still good device (not so good phone) but technological marvel it ain't no more. A friend of mine - who is one of those gadget lovers - just dumped his 3G and got Nexus One... first Android among my friends. I'm still happy with my 3Gs, but when replacement time comes... we'll see.
So let me get this straight, the original iPhone with v1.0 compared to the 3GS with v3.1.3 is just minor updates? Have you looked at Android and the number of Android phones that don't even have v2.0? Have you noticed that the iPhone is the only touch-based phone with full copy/paste capabilities? Did you not read the article showing how the iPhone is more advanced in understanding touch commands? Do I need to remind you that the touchscreen is the primary way in which you interact with these modern handsets?
Yes, Android is still not as polished as iPhone OS. However, it does remind me at OSX/Windows situation as observed by Apple fans, with iPhone being about "user experience" while Android catering for economy smartphone shoppers on one side and performance/feature rich shoppers on the other.
Bad analogy. Apple is selling a $99 iPhone, and the real cost in smartphone ownership is the data plan costs. Android doesn't magically make that cheaper.
Quote:
No, I don't think so. Looking at recent stats, Google momentum is much higher then iPhone, Google expanding their market share significantly while iPhone stagnating. iPhone 4 will boost sales, but I have gut feeling Android is taking hype off iPhone now and more frequent updates, both hardware and software, will keep that hype for a while.
Sigh. iPhone sales are not "stagnating." They've slowed in North America, as one might expect this close to a major refresh. Worldwide they're skyrocketing. You guys sure are committed to that particular meme, though. Wonder why?
And an endless procession of OMG! AWESOME! Android phones, each almost indistinguishable from the rest save the kind of spec bumps the average buyer actually could care less about are more likely to dilute the brand than maintain hype.
Quote:
Conquest? Last time I've checked here at AI it was stagnation. Apple was deep in trenches, no more blitzkrieg. Maybe 4 will move them forward. I don't, however, think that iPhone can move forward as quick as Android - which is the main problem the way I see it. They've just lost their momentum. 3 years of minor updates (which is not much different from what Apple does with their PCs) didn't help much. iPhone is still good device (not so good phone) but technological marvel it ain't no more. A friend of mine - who is one of those gadget lovers - just dumped his 3G and got Nexus One... first Android among my friends. I'm still happy with my 3Gs, but when replacement time comes... we'll see.
If you think progress is purely about pumping specs, sure. And "gadget lovers" are likely to agree.
But here's the thing: "gadget lovers" are a tiny pool of potential customers compared to "people." Apple is selling to people. Android is selling to gadget lovers. Math.
Comments
yeah get over it. I already acknowledged my mistake (which you so conveniently left out of your quote.)
Next time try not to shoot from the hip
http://labs.moto.com/wp-content/uplo...nanalysis3.jpg
Funny, the iPhone results don't look nearly as good in this image posted on MOTO Labs' website:
http://labs.moto.com/wp-content/uplo...nanalysis3.jpg
You should learn to read more carefully.
You should see the Android fanboys over on Engadget making all types of excuses for the Droid's performance. They're coming with classics like...
"it's not the Droid itself, it's the drivers..."
"iphone has less resolution"
"Seems to me like the robot was designed around the iphone? I am sure the robot path can be made perfect on any single phone and then when you use that same path on other phones it doesn't work so well."
But you know, Robots are Apple fanboys too.
oh yea my favorite one is "the robot is designed for the iphone"...
lmao....woohooo, I almost fell out of my chair...to think that someone would design a robot to fake a test...they will say anything..
I think champ was -- imho, rightly -- sighing over the insults from chronster.
Regardless of whether he was right or wrong about capacitive/resistive, the put-downs were juvenile and unnecessary.
For the most part the "sigh" was for the insult and plus I didn't want him to get off so easy....because of the insult.
oh yea my favorite one is "the robot is designed for the iphone"...
lmao....woohooo, I almost fell out of my chair...to think that someone would design a robot to fake a test...they will say anything..
engadget.com is a sad little anti-Apple cesspool.
But here's the really ironic fact: Guess the mention of whose name generates the most hits, and hence ads?
Pathetic.
With the iphone coming in first and the droid last.
did the robot testing unit look anything like the commercial?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9P_KAyOlZw
I'm surprised nobody pointed out the cruel irony in the fact that it was a "robotic test."
With the iphone coming in first and the droid last.
did the robot testing unit look anything like the commercial?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9P_KAyOlZw
Ha! Good point.
My shoe tastes nasty
I guess I was thrown off by the whole "light press" thing. I thought capacitive just worked no matter how hard you pressed.
Yes folks, Apple has patents on their sensor implementation tied into the OS.
Are the iPhone's LCD panel and touch sensors designed by Apple?
Does it make a difference? Apple chose to use that technology. Apple knew how good their touchscreen is. Apple pays attention to details. Do you think the iPad touchscreen tech, wherever it's from, will be miraculously inexplicably crap? This is Apple we're talking about. If the device sports an Apple logo, you know right out of the gate that its touchscreen will be excellent, whether Apple designed the LCD panel/touch sensors or not.
These are the things that set Apple apart from the also-rans.
No wonder the DROID hype has turned cold like a stale bread. Storm of course went out more like a drizzle. The rest are just copycats.
They will never leapfrog over Apple, because Apple has at least 2yrs advancement and refinement over all of them. It will only get better with time.
iPhone rules. Time will come when will take over 50% of the smartphone market. It will take time, but it sure will happen.
They have already leapfrogged iPhone in many ways, some of them at least. Look at this one:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=17960
Android market is developing at speed of light, so many new models appearing each year and competing with each other, trying to be better then the one before them... such chaotic environment, while not the best from manufacturers' point of view (as they are forced to keep pushing development all the time and cannot milk one solution for too long) does force technology progress at much more accelerated rate.
Think of where Android phones were in 2007 and where they are now, and think of where iPhone was in 2007 and where it is now; Android went from non-existence to some of most advanced smart phones on the market, and they have just started, while iPhone hasn't really changed that much at all. Here's hope that iPhone 4 will be significantly improved, but somehow I doubt that.
If Android continues to improve at current rate - and they seem to have momentum - I don't think anyone will be able to follow them, not Apple, not Microsoft, not RIM. With so many good phone hardware manufacturers having knowledge, experience and technology to create great devices, all that was required was good enough software platform, and it is just possible Google has provided exactly that.
I don't have doubts that RIM will keep nice share of business users, iPhone will retain enough loyals and people more concerned about smooth experience then with performance and features, while MS might find it's place with good integration on Exchange, Office, SharePoint levels... but if I'd have to bet on single platform to dominate in the next 5 years, I'd say Android has the best chances.
They have already leapfrogged iPhone in many ways, some of them at least. Look at this one:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=17960
Android market is developing at speed of light, so many new models appearing each year and competing with each other, trying to be better then the one before them... such chaotic environment, while not the best from manufacturers' point of view (as they are forced to keep pushing development all the time and cannot milk one solution for too long) does force technology progress at much more accelerated rate.
Think of where Android phones were in 2007 and where they are now, and think of where iPhone was in 2007 and where it is now; Android went from non-existence to some of most advanced smart phones on the market, and they have just started, while iPhone hasn't really changed that much at all. Here's hope that iPhone 4 will be significantly improved, but somehow I doubt that.
If Android continues to improve at current rate - and they seem to have momentum - I don't think anyone will be able to follow them, not Apple, not Microsoft, not RIM. With so many good phone hardware manufacturers having knowledge, experience and technology to create great devices, all that was required was good enough software platform, and it is just possible Google has provided exactly that.
I don't have doubts that RIM will keep nice share of business users, iPhone will retain enough loyals and people more concerned about smooth experience then with performance and features, while MS might find it's place with good integration on Exchange, Office, SharePoint levels... but if I'd have to bet on single platform to dominate in the next 5 years, I'd say Android has the best chances.
After three years, even Google's best effort, still aint no iPhone.
Apple's found that winning sweet-spot between software and hardware.
Google should fear June. It'll be a bad month for the competition. Apple has all the momentum on its side, with iPhone development breeding iPad development, and vice-versa.
Google sells a lot of Android phones. Plenty of models. But no single Android phone outsells the iPhone. Why? Because Google doesn't have what it takes - no one does so far - to roll out a real iPhone-Killer.
I love how every time we get a positive article about the iPhone (which is pretty much always), someone has to throw in a "but Android is growing" comment. Yeah, we know. The more Google whores out its "open" OS to any and all takers, the more volume they can push. Apple is in third place behind two hugely entrenched players, and only has a couple of models and in the US is limited to a single carrier. That's not just growth, it's outright conquest, the likes of which has never been experienced before in this market. And Apple *still* sets the bar after three years.
Reading the new AI article about the military going to Apple, which is already using Apple products extensively, I was thinking more along the lines of Umbrella Corp. from Resident Evil.
Nah. there was an article on AnandTech about US Army signing a contract with Microsoft about accepting Windows Vista for desktop platform for next 5 or so years.
Yes, Windows Vista, not 7. Figure that out. Maybe Army likes the idea that Vista will be less exposed with people moving from XP to 7, thus leaving Vista as almost exclusive product for Army. Who knows? Anyway, number was 800,000 desktops - not bad for a single contract.
One of my colleagues was IT in German Army and took part in some NATO operations at his time, and while he did leave service 5 years ago, at the time everything was Windows, with some obscure Linux applications. I would expect that NATO is following US Army IT trends and standards pretty strictly.
Yes military might try different solutions for different applications, but mainstream those solutions will not be...
They have already leapfrogged iPhone in many ways, some of them at least. Look at this one:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=17960
Think of where Android phones were in 2007 and where they are now, and think of where iPhone was in 2007 and where it is now; Android went from non-existence to some of most advanced smart phones on the market, and they have just started, while iPhone hasn't really changed that much at all. Here's hope that iPhone 4 will be significantly improved, but somehow I doubt that.
.
Depends on your definition of "most advanced smart phones" actually means. In my opinion, Apple has a superior total package compared to an Android phone. Apple puts in a huge amount of effort to provide the best possible hardware/software/integration experience around. This robotic test is just one piece of it.
Android fanboys seem to think that what matters is highest resolution, brightest display, opensource, < insert more wannabe items here >. Who cares if it's all a chaotic free-for-all, where multiple manufacturers make their own Android flavors and there is no consistency.
I still use my original iPhone 2g. It's "dated" by your standards. But I have a current OS, everything still works great, and I know that Apple will continue making it the best product the can and continue improving the functionality of my 2-year-old piece of hardware.
Do they think they'll be able to say the same thing two years from now with their current Android phone? Do they really think their phone maker will waste the time and effort to port the new Android OS to their 2-year-old phone? Think about it. That's a subject none of them are really bringing up. There's no incentive for Motorola (for example) to port Android 3.x to the current phone after six months has gone by.
After three years, even Google's best effort, still aint no iPhone.
Apple's found that winning sweet-spot between software and hardware.
Yes, Android is still not as polished as iPhone OS. However, it does remind me at OSX/Windows situation as observed by Apple fans, with iPhone being about "user experience" while Android catering for economy smartphone shoppers on one side and performance/feature rich shoppers on the other.
Google should fear June. It'll be a bad month for the competition. Apple has all the momentum on its side, with iPhone development breeding iPad development, and vice-versa.
No, I don't think so. Looking at recent stats, Google momentum is much higher then iPhone, Google expanding their market share significantly while iPhone stagnating. iPhone 4 will boost sales, but I have gut feeling Android is taking hype off iPhone now and more frequent updates, both hardware and software, will keep that hype for a while.
Google sells a lot of Android phones. Plenty of models. But no single Android phone outsells the iPhone. Why? Because Google doesn't have what it takes - no one does so far - to roll out a real iPhone-Killer.
I don't see your point. We are talking platform here, not single model. If Apple decided to have more models in current generation, they would dilute sales of each model but total would be as good, if not better.
I love how every time we get a positive article about the iPhone (which is pretty much always), someone has to throw in a "but Android is growing" comment. Yeah, we know. The more Google whores out its "open" OS to any and all takers, the more volume they can push. Apple is in third place behind hugely entrenched players, and only has a couple of models. That's not just growth, it's outright conquest, the likes of which has never been experienced before in this market. And Apple *still* sets the bar after three years.
Conquest? Last time I've checked here at AI it was stagnation. Apple was deep in trenches, no more blitzkrieg. Maybe 4 will move them forward. I don't, however, think that iPhone can move forward as quick as Android - which is the main problem the way I see it. They've just lost their momentum. 3 years of minor updates (which is not much different from what Apple does with their PCs) didn't help much. iPhone is still good device (not so good phone) but technological marvel it ain't no more. A friend of mine - who is one of those gadget lovers - just dumped his 3G and got Nexus One... first Android among my friends. I'm still happy with my 3Gs, but when replacement time comes... we'll see.
"Our competitors can't touch this... at least not accurately."
Because you can't put it on a spec sheet, so they focused on the display resolution, OLED, CPU clockrate, etc. while ignoring anything to do with the user experience.
As always. Apple thinks: "The phone is the screen. Touch is the UI. Therefore, we need to make absolutely sure that we get that part exactly right before anything else.
As far as I can make out, pretty much everybody else thinks "specs and features" first, as a way of getting some market differentiation, and getting all the little things right doesn't really rank very high on the to-do list. Good enough prevails, as always.
Of course, it helps if your target market are Pavlovian about OMG!!!AWESOME!!!!! spec numbers, and will start chanting about how the latest "beast" will "crush" and "destroy" because of the hardware it's "packing" etc. Sometimes I think actual difference between Apple and the competition is that they explicitly want to sell things to someone other than adolescent boys. And everybody else just hopes there's enough adolescent boy in enough people to keep doing what they're doing.
Yes, Android is still not as polished as iPhone OS. However, it does remind me at OSX/Windows situation as observed by Apple fans, with iPhone being about "user experience" while Android catering for economy smartphone shoppers on one side and performance/feature rich shoppers on the other.
And yet Apple makes more profit than any other vendor in both the PC and cellular handset markets.
No, I don't think so. Looking at recent stats, Google momentum is much higher then iPhone, Google expanding their market share significantly while iPhone stagnating. iPhone 4 will boost sales, but I have gut feeling Android is taking hype off iPhone now and more frequent updates, both hardware and software, will keep that hype for a while.
Growth, yes, because they are coming from much lower marketshare and have released new product more recently, but I doubt the momentum is higher. Hell, even the iPhone being released to the 4th carrier in the UK in January, 2010 sold more units than the Nexus One in their first week of sales.
I Conquest? Last time I've checked here at AI it was stagnation. Apple was deep in trenches, no more blitzkrieg. Maybe 4 will move them forward. I don't, however, think that iPhone can move forward as quick as Android - which is the main problem the way I see it. They've just lost their momentum.
YoY growth percentage slowing does not equate to stagnation. Look at the YoY unit sales and you'll see growth is still very strong.
3 years of minor updates (which is not much different from what Apple does with their PCs) didn't help much. iPhone is still good device (not so good phone) but technological marvel it ain't no more. A friend of mine - who is one of those gadget lovers - just dumped his 3G and got Nexus One... first Android among my friends. I'm still happy with my 3Gs, but when replacement time comes... we'll see.
So let me get this straight, the original iPhone with v1.0 compared to the 3GS with v3.1.3 is just minor updates? Have you looked at Android and the number of Android phones that don't even have v2.0? Have you noticed that the iPhone is the only touch-based phone with full copy/paste capabilities? Did you not read the article showing how the iPhone is more advanced in understanding touch commands? Do I need to remind you that the touchscreen is the primary way in which you interact with these modern handsets?
Yes, Android is still not as polished as iPhone OS. However, it does remind me at OSX/Windows situation as observed by Apple fans, with iPhone being about "user experience" while Android catering for economy smartphone shoppers on one side and performance/feature rich shoppers on the other.
Bad analogy. Apple is selling a $99 iPhone, and the real cost in smartphone ownership is the data plan costs. Android doesn't magically make that cheaper.
No, I don't think so. Looking at recent stats, Google momentum is much higher then iPhone, Google expanding their market share significantly while iPhone stagnating. iPhone 4 will boost sales, but I have gut feeling Android is taking hype off iPhone now and more frequent updates, both hardware and software, will keep that hype for a while.
Sigh. iPhone sales are not "stagnating." They've slowed in North America, as one might expect this close to a major refresh. Worldwide they're skyrocketing. You guys sure are committed to that particular meme, though. Wonder why?
And an endless procession of OMG! AWESOME! Android phones, each almost indistinguishable from the rest save the kind of spec bumps the average buyer actually could care less about are more likely to dilute the brand than maintain hype.
Conquest? Last time I've checked here at AI it was stagnation. Apple was deep in trenches, no more blitzkrieg. Maybe 4 will move them forward. I don't, however, think that iPhone can move forward as quick as Android - which is the main problem the way I see it. They've just lost their momentum. 3 years of minor updates (which is not much different from what Apple does with their PCs) didn't help much. iPhone is still good device (not so good phone) but technological marvel it ain't no more. A friend of mine - who is one of those gadget lovers - just dumped his 3G and got Nexus One... first Android among my friends. I'm still happy with my 3Gs, but when replacement time comes... we'll see.
If you think progress is purely about pumping specs, sure. And "gadget lovers" are likely to agree.
But here's the thing: "gadget lovers" are a tiny pool of potential customers compared to "people." Apple is selling to people. Android is selling to gadget lovers. Math.