Android tops RIM in US smartphone market share, Apple's iPhone third

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  • Reply 21 of 104
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macinthe408 View Post


    Ok, and this data means just what to me?



    I use iOS because Android sucks; looks and feels like it was programmed by a bunch of dudes in a basement playing D&D between compiles.



    And that should mean nothing to anyone else. I like iOS; I think Android sucks. The data mean the same thing - it's personal.



    The data is a summary of the preferences of many peope, not just you, therefore it is infinitely more meaningful.



    Why does almost everyone here view these numbers as a competition? It's not like many of you actually DO something to advance one system or the other. If Android wins market share, it is not the doing of Android fanbois, but of engineers and programmers. Or, to put it differently, your sports team winning doesn't make you less of a couch potato.



    The data should more appropriately be analyzed from the point of view of developers: which OS to target, the one with more users, or the one with more users willing to pay for apps?
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  • Reply 22 of 104
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Android by all accounts is growing like a weed. And although weeds are far more plentiful than cultivated flowers, their value is also far less. Android by its very nature is wild and unrestricted, just like a weed. It only goes to show that if you leave a garden unattended, the end result is usually weeds. I'll take the walled garden, thank you Apple.
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  • Reply 23 of 104
    msanttimsantti Posts: 1,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alandail View Post


    shouldn't mobile platforms include both the iPod touch and iPad as iOS devices?



    it's Android vs iOS, and iOS should still be well ahead.



    Well, then you could then throw Android tablets in the mix also though the numbers are tiny at the moment.
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  • Reply 24 of 104
    extremeskaterextremeskater Posts: 2,248member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    Android by all accounts is growing like a weed. And although weeds are far more plentiful than cultivated flowers, their value is also far less. Android by its very nature is wild and unrestricted, just like a weed. It only goes to show that if you leave a garden unattended, the end result is usually weeds. I'll take the walled garden, thank you Apple.



    Everyone wouldn't be so defensive here if Android was just a weed.
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  • Reply 25 of 104
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    The iPhone and Apple is still the winner of the phone world. No other phone is as successful, and nobody else has transformed and innovated the entire phone industry like Apple has. The iPhone is the revolution that made all of those other copycat phones possible in the first place. If the iPhone hadn't come along, the other phones would still be looking like they did back in 2007.



    The only way somebody can compete with Apple is to compare the iPhone to the phones from every single other android phone manufacturer put together. Good job.



    What is that, like 1 VS 50 ? 1 VS 100? And many of those Android phones are dirt cheap, they're practically giving them away. And in some cases, they actually are giving them away. Color me unimpressed.



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  • Reply 26 of 104
    I for one welcome our new Android overlords... Who will now enslave humanity to toil in their Korean smartphone factories, or "Android Birthing Centers."
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  • Reply 27 of 104
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DrDoppio View Post


    The data is a summary of the preferences of many peope, not just you, therefore it is infinitely more meaningful.



    Why does almost everyone here view these numbers as a competition? It's not like many of you actually DO something to advance one system or the other. If Android wins market share, it is not the doing of Android fanbois, but of engineers and programmers. Or, to put it differently, your sports team winning doesn't make you less of a couch potato.



    The data should more appropriately be analyzed from the point of view of developers: which OS to target, the one with more users, or the one with more users willing to pay for apps?



    The only problem is that with the iPhone, a developer can still target more phones with one version of your app, which is why most developers till today put the iPhone first.
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  • Reply 28 of 104
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by extremeskater View Post


    Everyone wouldn't be so defensive here if Android was just a weed.



    I think a lot of people here just wish for Apple to finally be the largest maker of something and iOS is the only chance they get. Personally I don't care. Apple continues to have only a small fraction of the PC market, however, Mac computers are the very best in my mind. It wouldn't disappoint me at all if Android became the new Microsoft in terms of mobile market dominance. Apple isn't going to stop making iPhones/iPads just because there are multitudes of low quality copycat devices available. They will hopefully keep raising the bar in quality and sophistication and I will continue to purchase Apple products, regardless of what the masses do.
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  • Reply 29 of 104
    extremeskaterextremeskater Posts: 2,248member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    The iPhone and Apple is still the winner of the phone world. No other phone is as successful, and nobody else has transformed and innovated the entire phone industry like Apple has. The iPhone is the revolution that made all of those other copycat phones possible in the first place.



    The only way somebody can compete with Apple is to compare the iPhone to the phones from every single other android phone manufacturer put together. Good job.



    What is that, like 1 VS 50 ? 1 VS 100? And many of those Android phones are dirt cheap, they're practically giving them away. And in some cases, they actually are giving them away. Color me unimpressed.







    Android isn't doing well becuase of cheap phones, it's actually the reverse. All the recent HTC, MOTO and Samsung phones are good solid hardware with very good specs. That is why Android is now doing well. Android has been around for a while, if it was about cheap phones it would have been doing well years ago.



    The cost of ownership on the latest Android phones is no different then the cost of ownership of the iPhone.



    Cheap outdated hardware design and a bad OS is why RIM is doing poorly.
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  • Reply 30 of 104
    ddawson100ddawson100 Posts: 555member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Andykemp View Post


    iPhone 4? I can't wait till last year...



    LOL!



    But back to the point - I can't wait for a refresh of this chart in another month or so when the results of Big Red's launch are added in. ⌘+R
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  • Reply 31 of 104
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alandail View Post


    shouldn't mobile platforms include both the iPod touch and iPad as iOS devices?



    Only if we want new arguments about how the iPad is/isn't a big iPod touch...



    The mobile categories compete separately, and should be counted separately.
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  • Reply 32 of 104
    alandailalandail Posts: 789member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by msantti View Post


    Well, then you could then throw Android tablets in the mix also though the numbers are tiny at the moment.



    that's fine, include everything iOS with everything Android. When you do that, Apple is still ahead.
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  • Reply 33 of 104
    extremeskaterextremeskater Posts: 2,248member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    I think a lot of people here just wish for Apple to finally be the largest maker of something and iOS is the only chance they get. Personally I don't care. Apple continues to have only a small fraction of the PC market, however, Mac computers are the very best in my mind. It wouldn't disappoint me at all if Android became the new Microsoft in terms of mobile market dominance. Apple isn't going to stop making iPhones/iPads just because there are multitudes of low quality copycat devices available. They will hopefully keep raising the bar in quality and sophistication and I will continue to purchase Apple products, regardless of what the masses do.



    Thats the part I don't get everyone talks about not caring about marketshare and when a baited article like this comes out everyone flips out over market share.



    I don't believe Apple is hurting Android or the other way around. The charts we see all the time tells us that Android and Apple are killing RIM, Webos and Windows Mobile. Nokia has also taken quite a beating over the last few years.



    The reason Android is doing well like Apple is there is now good hardware to support a good OS.



    I think the advancement in the technology is good on both ends and I look forward to both of them doing well in the future. I think its good for technology.



    As far as the masses its really hard to put Apple in the role of underdog anymore. One thing about the US media they love to build up the underdog which was Apple. Now they are the Champ the media loves to knock the Champ off the mountain even more.
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  • Reply 34 of 104
    wigginwiggin Posts: 2,265member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Andykemp View Post


    This is like posting an article on a Christian site denying the existence of God. They just want to start a flame war.



    Except the report is also the top headline on the CNN Money home page, too. And most people can't (or won't) read and comprehend past the headline.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DrDoppio View Post


    ...The data should more appropriately be analyzed from the point of view of developers...



    Which is actually why the data is misleading and poorly represented. If you read the orignal report, they use terms like "smartphone", "mobile device", and "mobile subscriber" interchangably. But those terms are most certainly not equal. A mobile device could include an iPod touch or iPad. A mobile subscriber could be an iPad.



    The researchers were clearly not trying to compare hardware sales, they said they were comparing OS (ie, platform) marketshare. But it appears their numbers only refer to smartphones, which in today's world is a hardware distinction...does my mobile device have a phone?



    If their target audience for their research is developers to understand which platform to target, their numbers should include all hardare that rus the OS. Not just smartphones.
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  • Reply 35 of 104
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ddawson100 View Post


    LOL!



    But back to the point - I can't wait for a refresh of this chart in another month or so when the results of Big Red's launch are added in. ⌘+R



    http://labs.chitika.com/iZone/



    Steadily climbing all month. Pretty amazing that it's at nearly 10% after such a short time.
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  • Reply 36 of 104
    prof. peabodyprof. peabody Posts: 2,860member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by extremeskater View Post


    Android isn't doing well becuase of cheap phones, it's actually the reverse. All the recent HTC, MOTO and Samsung phones are good solid hardware with very good specs. That is why Android is now doing well. Android has been around for a while, if it was about cheap phones it would have been doing well years ago. ...



    No offence dude but this is nonsense. Android phones were more expensive in the past than they are now so if it "was about cheap phones" they would be doing better now than they were in the past, which is exactly what's happening actually. Android phones started out roughly the same price as the iPhone and have been dropping in average price ever since. The two for one giveaways, and the free phone with a certain contract stuff as well as a general lowering of the manufactured price are all new things.



    What these figures show is just the sales channels being stuffed anyway. They don't actually equate to "Android doing well."
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  • Reply 37 of 104
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kriskkalu View Post


    The only problem is that with the iPhone, a developer can still target more phones with one version of your app, which is why most developers till today put the iPhone first.



    I don't see a problem, only possibilities.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wiggin View Post


    ...

    If their target audience for their research is developers to understand which platform to target, their numbers should include all hardare that rus the OS. Not just smartphones.



    In other words, this report is mere flamebait?
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  • Reply 38 of 104
    extremeskaterextremeskater Posts: 2,248member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    No offence dude but this is nonsense. Android phones were more expensive in the past than they are now so if it "was about cheap phones" they would be doing better now than they were in the past, which is exactly what's happening actually. Android phones started out roughly the same price as the iPhone and have been dropping in average price ever since. The two for one giveaways, and the free phone with a certain contract stuff as well as a general lowering of the manufactured price are all new things.



    What these figures show is just the sales channels being stuffed anyway. They don't actually equate to "Android doing well."



    Many of the Android phones that are running 2.1 or 2.2 are also on the same cycle as the iPhone 4. The Droid 2, Droid X, Evo and Incredible all came out around the same time as the iPhone 4. I don't see people having a fit that the 3GS is selling for 49.00 at ATT.



    There are no free phones or BOGO with the top sellnig Android phones. Also even if that wsa the case it doesn't matter to Google or the hardware companies either because its the network provide that decides to eat that.
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  • Reply 39 of 104
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by extremeskater View Post


    The reason Android is doing well like Apple is there is now good hardware to support a good OS.



    There is some good hardware out there, but in those cases the OS is still just a knockoff of iOS. When articles like this come out they are comparing hard numbers, not the best of Android compared to the best of Apple as you or I might do in an evaluation for a purchasing decision. With raw numbers you factor in all of the really cheap crap that runs some flavor of Android. Eventually there will be billions of poor quality Android devices in China alone. Why? Because they will be cheap, not because they are better or even marginally acceptable. There will probably even be counterfeit iPhones running Android I would imagine.
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  • Reply 40 of 104
    prof. peabodyprof. peabody Posts: 2,860member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post


    ... The first (comparing iPhone to other phones) is illusionary, the second (comparing platform to platform) is a bit more valid but nobody is going to include the iPod touch in a phone category - however valid that may seem.



    This is just crazy talk.



    The *only* valid comparisons are the two mentioned. That's why these sales figures of "smartphones" (an essentially made-up category who's definition changes from analyst to analyst), are completely irrelevant even if you ignore the obvious issues over sales reporting, channel stuffing etc.



    The iPhone is a phone that runs an OS.



    Comparing it's sales to all the other phones that run Android ignores the fact that you are comparing one phone's sales figures to the sales figures of dozens and dozens of phones which is unfair by definition. It's like comparing the sales of the Ford F150 to the sales of all Honda's.



    If you want to compare Android to iOS on the other hand, you have to include all the devices that run iOS (platform to platform), otherwise it's similarly unfair by definition. It's not like there aren't Android tablets now and Android music players as well.



    To compare "how Android is doing" versus iOS you have to include all devices. To compare "how the iPhone is doing" versus an Android phone, you have to compare phone to phone. iOS wins in each category of course.



    Judging by the rate of growth, iOS devices will swamp Android devices sooner rather than later, but everyone is so focussed on these bogus sales figures they won't notice it for a while.



    RIM is likely to collapse almost completely after they finally get the Playbook out the door for instance. All the signs are there. What happens to the market when those users all have to pick between Android and iOS? Certainly the majority of them will pick iOS if recent consumer surveys are accurate. Same with Nokia when it finally goes down. iOS will pick up the lion's share of users with each collapse IMO.
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