I"m truly amazed at the comments in these forums whenever an article like this comes out. The Jobs loyalists just can't seem to realize that this is good news for everyone. Jobs is feeling the pressure to build better devices. He can't just sit back on his laurels. The competition is too fierce.
Just accept the fact that Android is outselling the iPhone and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future BUT that this will relegate the iPhone not to "lesser" status but to a superior alternative.
Has anyone on here actually sat down and compared devices, such as:
Droid X to iP4
Incredible to iP4
Epic 4G to iP4
Well, I have, and those 3 Android devices, I'm sorry to say, blow the iP4 out of the water. Yes, the iP4 is GORGEOUS and the UI is simply beautiful, etc. But you get more out of the other devices by far--more power, more customization, more options, more more more.
Wait for the next iPhone to come out next year--it will set the bar for the next round of Android devices to jump over.
I went from a iPhone 3G to the Droid X.
Soon as the Holidays are over and I recover from the spending spree, I will pay the ETF and go back to the 3G.
Buggy UI , Crashing Apps, Forced Updates .... Tried it but going back to iOS as fast as possible
These market share numbers are only relevant to developers. If you aren't a developer then all you're doing shouting "This wins over that due to xxx" is being stupid.
As a developer here's my pro's and con's to develop in either ecosystem:
iOS Pros
- Market share due to iPod Touches. Almost everyone I know has an iPod touch and telling them to download my app is great.
- More potential app sales
Android Pros
- Java based
- Reach a great world wide market place
- More potential ad revenue for me for a free-ad supported app
iOS Cons
- Objective-C. Having to learn a new language.
- Dev's account. $99 isn't that much, but it's still something to look at when you're not 100% guaranteed to be able to put your app on the market
- Have to stick with Mac OS X (ok, this isnt a big one)
- Xcode
Android Cons
- App gets lost easily in the market
- Potential fragmentation of a small market share not being able to run my app
Differences aren't that big and right not it's coming down to personal preference. As for other developers, my guess is that anyone who is a developer either develops in linux (more towards here) or Mac.
Cutting into Apple's profits when iPhone sales grew 91% year-over-year while the profits grew 70% year-over-year to $4.3 billion last quarter? Please name one phone vendor that is even close to how Apple is doing. Apple still can't keep up with the demand and they've only now just released the iPhone 4 in China and many other countries around the world while they tried to keep up with the demand in the US. And the Verizon iPhone will come eventually. Jobs isn't worried. He's just having fun trash-talking the competition that trash-talks Apple.
I'd say all the Android trolls (and I'm not saying you're one of them) are the desperate worried ones to come over to Apple-related sites (many others besides this one) and spend their "valuable" time and effort trashing Apple and the iPhone.
You're right, I"m not one of those trolls. I state the facts and I don't bash the iPhone.
And, yes, regardless of how many billions Apple has made, it would have made even MORE if Android didn't exist. Just imagine a world with only iPhone, Blackberry, Windows, and Symbian. You know where I'm going with this. Apple would have BILLIONS MORE in revenue. Android has slowed that momentum considerably, no matter what you think of the platform. Jobs realizes that and he's on the defensive with his recent statements at a quarterly earnings report.
I say, GOOD! Let him get freaked out and go back to the drawing board and create an even better iPhone....Android will follow suit and the fun will begin all over again.
Even if those other phones offer "more power" or customization, I don't care. My iPhone 4 does what I want, when I want it to. It's integration with my Macs and iPads ensures that I won't look at alternatives, unless there is some killer feature that the iPhone doesn't have. So far, that hasn't happened.
When I was younger, I liked messing around customizing computers and cars. Now I prefer to enjoy using those devices instead of working on them.
If someone likes customizing their phone, and feels limited by the iPhone, then Androids are a good fit. Others prefer the iPhones ease of use, and that's best for them.
I agree with your reasoning. But I find, for example, the Droid Incredible an amazing device that does everything I want and more. Plus, one killer feature that it has (among many) that iPhone doesn't is wireless hotspot. I can hook up my Macbook pro, Mac Pro tower, Windows laptop and anything else to it wirelessly to get to the internet. Up to 8 devices at a time, in fact. Many people are getting Android phones with wireless hotspots along with their Wifi iPads. How ironic!
Soon as the Holidays are over and I recover from the spending spree, I will pay the ETF and go back to the 3G.
Buggy UI , Crashing Apps, Forced Updates .... Tried it but going back to iOS as fast as possible
Strange. LIke with anything, there are exceptions. I know of at least 20 people in my company who have the X and love them. They've tried the iP4 and said, "nah, it's got nothing on the X."
Personally, I don't like the X. I prefer the Incredible. That's the beauty of Android--choice, options, etc. Crappy phones, mid-range phones, high-end great phones, different carriers, different companies, etc.
7Actually AsianBob your statement is the stupid one. When you consider there are many price points on Android phones, including at the bottom which is free, they are not the same price point. Then we have a huge number of them being given away for free even at the top end in the ridiculous by one get one free promotions. So before you start calling others stupid - trying getting an education on the subject at hand.
Actually, I am well aware of the BOGO promotions. This is something the carriers do at their own expense. Just because the consumer takes advantage of a deal for an Android phone, doesn't mean they are any more or less off than someone who bought a single iPhone. Lets say Apple decided to do a limited BOGO offer (I know they never would, not the point). Would you pass up that offer and demand to pay for your second iPhone? Of course you wouldn't. Would it mean that you're "poorer" for taking advantage of that offer? Not at all.
But the thing you assume is that the person actually decides to go with the BOGO offer, which is aimed more towards families. If an individual goes and purchases a high-end Android phone, why would he decide to go with that deal which forces him to get a second line which he won't use? So he purchases the Android phone for the same price as you would for an iPhone 4.
These market share numbers are only relevant to developers. If you aren't a developer then all you're doing shouting "This wins over that due to xxx" is being stupid.
As a developer here's my pro's and con's to develop in either ecosystem:
iOS Pros
- Market share due to iPod Touches. Almost everyone I know has an iPod touch and telling them to download my app is great.
- More potential app sales
Android Pros
- Java based
- Reach a great world wide market place
- More potential ad revenue for me for a free-ad supported app
iOS Cons
- Objective-C. Having to learn a new language.
- Dev's account. $99 isn't that much, but it's still something to look at when you're not 100% guaranteed to be able to put your app on the market
- Have to stick with Mac OS X (ok, this isnt a big one)
- Xcode
Android Cons
- App gets lost easily in the market
- Potential fragmentation of a small market share not being able to run my app
Differences aren't that big and right not it's coming down to personal preference. As for other developers, my guess is that anyone who is a developer either develops in linux (more towards here) or Mac.
First, it's worth noting that if you're concerned about $99, you're not much of a developer.
More importantly, NONE of the things you've listed are the important thing. For a developer hoping to make money, the only question that matters is: "which platform will allow me to make the most money?" The answer is, overwhelmingly at this point, iOS.
Soon as the Holidays are over and I recover from the spending spree, I will pay the ETF and go back to the 3G.
Buggy UI , Crashing Apps, Forced Updates .... Tried it but going back to iOS as fast as possible
I played with the default UI for a bit and didn't find it all that bad. But if you look up LauncherPro or ADW.Launcher and use one of them, I bet that a lot of the "buggy UI" problems will go away. I personally use LauncherPro+ (paid version).
As for the "forced updates", I have no idea what you're talking about. My roommate bought his DX a week before the 2.2 update went live and he went weeks without updating it. He never knew one was available until I told him. Android devices will generally notify you when a system update is available (or when you ping the server manually), but I have never heard of it forcing you to update. I have gone through many of these updates on the Droid (2.0 -> 2.0.1 -> 2.1 -> 2.2) and the 2.1 -> 2.2 on the DX and I was never forced to update.
Jobs talks about iOS DEVICES, which fans of Android conveniently overlook in discussions of Android marketshare tending to focus, as they do, only on iPhones.
It will be interesting to see if the same split is applied when devices such as the Galaxy Tab and Dell streak start building Android marketshare.
Quote:
Originally Posted by asdasd
Jobs talks about market share all the time. He talks up activations all the time. and dismisses ( or questions) Android's activations. He seems to care.
Actually, I am well aware of the BOGO promotions. This is something the carriers do at their own expense.
Typically, that isn't how it works. The "retailer" or the vendor can contact each other if an effort to find ways to benefit each other.
If the retailer can't move the product then they will return product or refuse future product (if the product was pre-paid with no consignment for return). Similarly the vendor can intact retailers with plans to benefit each other by suggesting such deals. RiM has great management and increased their YoY profit per quarter by increasing their unit sales, but they've mostly done this at the expense of their per unit profit.
This is a great short term tactic, however it's not sustainable for the long term. The explosion of the smartphone market with the iPhone and RiM lead in the market at the time when shift to smartphones took off in the consumer segment has allowed them to maintain this stopgap for a lot longer than is typically possible, but they will ultimately need to have proper engineering in HW, SW and ecosystem or they will crumble like so many before them. There is no new ground here. This has all happened before and this will happen again.
Typically, that isn't how it works. The "retailer" or the vendor can contact each other if an effort to find ways to benefit each other.
If the retailer can't move the product then they will return product or refuse future product (if the product was pre-paid with no consignment for return). Similarly the vendor can intact retailers with plans to benefit each other by suggesting such deals. RiM has great management and increased their YoY profit per quarter by increasing their unit sales, but they've mostly done this at the expense of their per unit profit.
This is a great short term tactic, however it's not sustainable for the long term. The explosion of the smartphone market with the iPhone and RiM lead in the market at the time when shift to smartphones took off in the consumer segment has allowed them to maintain this stopgap for a lot longer than is typically possible, but they will ultimately need to have proper engineering in HW, SW and ecosystem or they will crumble like so many before them. There is no new ground here. This has all happened before and this will happen again.
Thanks for the explanation. I personally don't believe that the BOGO is the only reason Android is doing so well (it's more of a booster). Like I said, it helps on the family side, but for the individuals, this offer makes no difference to them.
I find it a little insulting when people who prefer an iPhone come up with these degrading reasons for why people purchase phones other than an iPhone (like the "has less income" or "are basement dwellers" that have been posted here). Why can't it be possible for someone to buy an Android phone (or any other OS smartphone) for the simple reason that it works the best for them?
Jobs talks about iOS DEVICES, which fans of Android conveniently overlook in discussions of Android marketshare tending to focus, as they do, only on iPhones.
It will be interesting to see if the same split is applied when devices such as the Galaxy Tab and Dell streak start building Android marketshare.
They actually aren't overlooked at all. The vast majority of Android devices currently available are smartphones. Hence the comparison to the iPhone only. You have to be a bit logical about this too. If numbers came out for Android devices that included its use in household appliances, cars, airplane entertainment systems, etc, wouldn't you cry foul too?
But I agree that once the Android-powered tablets start becoming more mainstream, I'd like to see how the total numbers compare.
U're absolutely right! The 2 are not comparable, for one, Android is used by several phone manufacturers while iOS is exclusive for iPhone. Apple is not competing in the OS segment, they're offering a package hardware and software.
These analysts call themselves professionals but they cannot distinguish which is comparable from not. The more comparable thing is to compare HTC's sales to that of iPhone.
It's a hardware thing not software since consumers are buying the hardwares not the OS of smartphones unlike in the PC world wherein consumers have the option to buy or download Windows or Mac OS and Linux.
Thanks for the explanation. I personally don't believe that the BOGO is the only reason Android is doing so well (it's more of a booster). Like I said, it helps on the family side, but for the individuals, this offer makes no difference to them.
I find it a little insulting when people who prefer an iPhone come up with these degrading reasons for why people purchase phones other than an iPhone (like the "has less income" or "are basement dwellers" that have been posted here). Why can't it be possible for someone to buy an Android phone (or any other OS smartphone) for the simple reason that it works the best for them?
But it?s all connected. These BOGO deals from RiM appear to have come about because RiM and Verizon (for example) we?re able to compete directly with a 1:1 sale. This speaks directly toward the desirability of a device that used to be sold for considerably more money, which in turn will affect the company?s ability to compete if they continue down this path. As I previously stated, RiM is very well managed and the iPhone serendipitously opened up a path for many smartphone vendors in the consumer sector.
PS: The longterm problem is what plagues the majority of the ?PC? industry now, that is most systems being sold with little to no profit except for the measly scrapes they can make from selling crapware space. These companies are still ?innovating? but they are innovating new ways to cut corners, which isn?t exactly a benefit to the user or the user experience. RiM is better off than any of the Android-based devs because they make their own OS, but they need to push their OS into the 21st century, which is something that they don?t seem to be doing with their Playbook running Adobe AIR as the UI.
It gives away its open-sourced Android -- no money there -- but that approach has put Google's software at the heart of the technology that is poised to dominate the next decade.
Google is now one of the world's biggest players in smartphones. Android will command 17.7% of the global mobile device market by year's end,
If we going to measure revenue by support systems, then Google can claim pretty much every modern OS out there since they are the default search engine on most (if not all) of them. It?s like Apple saying they make billions or a year from WebKit because it was the truly great part of the original iPhone that no one could compete with.
Comments
I"m truly amazed at the comments in these forums whenever an article like this comes out. The Jobs loyalists just can't seem to realize that this is good news for everyone. Jobs is feeling the pressure to build better devices. He can't just sit back on his laurels. The competition is too fierce.
Just accept the fact that Android is outselling the iPhone and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future BUT that this will relegate the iPhone not to "lesser" status but to a superior alternative.
Has anyone on here actually sat down and compared devices, such as:
Droid X to iP4
Incredible to iP4
Epic 4G to iP4
Well, I have, and those 3 Android devices, I'm sorry to say, blow the iP4 out of the water. Yes, the iP4 is GORGEOUS and the UI is simply beautiful, etc. But you get more out of the other devices by far--more power, more customization, more options, more more more.
Wait for the next iPhone to come out next year--it will set the bar for the next round of Android devices to jump over.
I went from a iPhone 3G to the Droid X.
Soon as the Holidays are over and I recover from the spending spree, I will pay the ETF and go back to the 3G.
Buggy UI , Crashing Apps, Forced Updates .... Tried it but going back to iOS as fast as possible
McD
jragosta, you quoted the wrong poster.
Fixed. I just used the 'quote' button on his post, so I don't know why it put your name.
As a developer here's my pro's and con's to develop in either ecosystem:
iOS Pros
- Market share due to iPod Touches. Almost everyone I know has an iPod touch and telling them to download my app is great.
- More potential app sales
Android Pros
- Java based
- Reach a great world wide market place
- More potential ad revenue for me for a free-ad supported app
iOS Cons
- Objective-C. Having to learn a new language.
- Dev's account. $99 isn't that much, but it's still something to look at when you're not 100% guaranteed to be able to put your app on the market
- Have to stick with Mac OS X (ok, this isnt a big one)
- Xcode
Android Cons
- App gets lost easily in the market
- Potential fragmentation of a small market share not being able to run my app
Differences aren't that big and right not it's coming down to personal preference. As for other developers, my guess is that anyone who is a developer either develops in linux (more towards here) or Mac.
I went from a iPhone 3G to the Droid X.
Soon as the Holidays are over and I recover from the spending spree, I will pay the ETF and go back to the 3G.
Buggy UI , Crashing Apps, Forced Updates .... Tried it but going back to iOS as fast as possible
Lol take it from personal experience. You'll miss that screen once it's gone.
Cutting into Apple's profits when iPhone sales grew 91% year-over-year while the profits grew 70% year-over-year to $4.3 billion last quarter? Please name one phone vendor that is even close to how Apple is doing. Apple still can't keep up with the demand and they've only now just released the iPhone 4 in China and many other countries around the world while they tried to keep up with the demand in the US. And the Verizon iPhone will come eventually. Jobs isn't worried. He's just having fun trash-talking the competition that trash-talks Apple.
I'd say all the Android trolls (and I'm not saying you're one of them) are the desperate worried ones to come over to Apple-related sites (many others besides this one) and spend their "valuable" time and effort trashing Apple and the iPhone.
You're right, I"m not one of those trolls. I state the facts and I don't bash the iPhone.
And, yes, regardless of how many billions Apple has made, it would have made even MORE if Android didn't exist. Just imagine a world with only iPhone, Blackberry, Windows, and Symbian. You know where I'm going with this. Apple would have BILLIONS MORE in revenue. Android has slowed that momentum considerably, no matter what you think of the platform. Jobs realizes that and he's on the defensive with his recent statements at a quarterly earnings report.
I say, GOOD! Let him get freaked out and go back to the drawing board and create an even better iPhone....Android will follow suit and the fun will begin all over again.
Even if those other phones offer "more power" or customization, I don't care. My iPhone 4 does what I want, when I want it to. It's integration with my Macs and iPads ensures that I won't look at alternatives, unless there is some killer feature that the iPhone doesn't have. So far, that hasn't happened.
When I was younger, I liked messing around customizing computers and cars. Now I prefer to enjoy using those devices instead of working on them.
If someone likes customizing their phone, and feels limited by the iPhone, then Androids are a good fit. Others prefer the iPhones ease of use, and that's best for them.
I agree with your reasoning. But I find, for example, the Droid Incredible an amazing device that does everything I want and more. Plus, one killer feature that it has (among many) that iPhone doesn't is wireless hotspot. I can hook up my Macbook pro, Mac Pro tower, Windows laptop and anything else to it wirelessly to get to the internet. Up to 8 devices at a time, in fact. Many people are getting Android phones with wireless hotspots along with their Wifi iPads. How ironic!
I went from a iPhone 3G to the Droid X.
Soon as the Holidays are over and I recover from the spending spree, I will pay the ETF and go back to the 3G.
Buggy UI , Crashing Apps, Forced Updates .... Tried it but going back to iOS as fast as possible
Strange. LIke with anything, there are exceptions. I know of at least 20 people in my company who have the X and love them. They've tried the iP4 and said, "nah, it's got nothing on the X."
Personally, I don't like the X. I prefer the Incredible. That's the beauty of Android--choice, options, etc. Crappy phones, mid-range phones, high-end great phones, different carriers, different companies, etc.
7Actually AsianBob your statement is the stupid one. When you consider there are many price points on Android phones, including at the bottom which is free, they are not the same price point. Then we have a huge number of them being given away for free even at the top end in the ridiculous by one get one free promotions. So before you start calling others stupid - trying getting an education on the subject at hand.
Actually, I am well aware of the BOGO promotions. This is something the carriers do at their own expense. Just because the consumer takes advantage of a deal for an Android phone, doesn't mean they are any more or less off than someone who bought a single iPhone. Lets say Apple decided to do a limited BOGO offer (I know they never would, not the point). Would you pass up that offer and demand to pay for your second iPhone? Of course you wouldn't. Would it mean that you're "poorer" for taking advantage of that offer? Not at all.
But the thing you assume is that the person actually decides to go with the BOGO offer, which is aimed more towards families. If an individual goes and purchases a high-end Android phone, why would he decide to go with that deal which forces him to get a second line which he won't use? So he purchases the Android phone for the same price as you would for an iPhone 4.
These market share numbers are only relevant to developers. If you aren't a developer then all you're doing shouting "This wins over that due to xxx" is being stupid.
As a developer here's my pro's and con's to develop in either ecosystem:
iOS Pros
- Market share due to iPod Touches. Almost everyone I know has an iPod touch and telling them to download my app is great.
- More potential app sales
Android Pros
- Java based
- Reach a great world wide market place
- More potential ad revenue for me for a free-ad supported app
iOS Cons
- Objective-C. Having to learn a new language.
- Dev's account. $99 isn't that much, but it's still something to look at when you're not 100% guaranteed to be able to put your app on the market
- Have to stick with Mac OS X (ok, this isnt a big one)
- Xcode
Android Cons
- App gets lost easily in the market
- Potential fragmentation of a small market share not being able to run my app
Differences aren't that big and right not it's coming down to personal preference. As for other developers, my guess is that anyone who is a developer either develops in linux (more towards here) or Mac.
First, it's worth noting that if you're concerned about $99, you're not much of a developer.
More importantly, NONE of the things you've listed are the important thing. For a developer hoping to make money, the only question that matters is: "which platform will allow me to make the most money?" The answer is, overwhelmingly at this point, iOS.
haha!
I went from a iPhone 3G to the Droid X.
Soon as the Holidays are over and I recover from the spending spree, I will pay the ETF and go back to the 3G.
Buggy UI , Crashing Apps, Forced Updates .... Tried it but going back to iOS as fast as possible
I played with the default UI for a bit and didn't find it all that bad. But if you look up LauncherPro or ADW.Launcher and use one of them, I bet that a lot of the "buggy UI" problems will go away. I personally use LauncherPro+ (paid version).
As for the "forced updates", I have no idea what you're talking about. My roommate bought his DX a week before the 2.2 update went live and he went weeks without updating it. He never knew one was available until I told him. Android devices will generally notify you when a system update is available (or when you ping the server manually), but I have never heard of it forcing you to update. I have gone through many of these updates on the Droid (2.0 -> 2.0.1 -> 2.1 -> 2.2) and the 2.1 -> 2.2 on the DX and I was never forced to update.
It will be interesting to see if the same split is applied when devices such as the Galaxy Tab and Dell streak start building Android marketshare.
Jobs talks about market share all the time. He talks up activations all the time. and dismisses ( or questions) Android's activations. He seems to care.
Actually, I am well aware of the BOGO promotions. This is something the carriers do at their own expense.
Typically, that isn't how it works. The "retailer" or the vendor can contact each other if an effort to find ways to benefit each other.
If the retailer can't move the product then they will return product or refuse future product (if the product was pre-paid with no consignment for return). Similarly the vendor can intact retailers with plans to benefit each other by suggesting such deals. RiM has great management and increased their YoY profit per quarter by increasing their unit sales, but they've mostly done this at the expense of their per unit profit.
This is a great short term tactic, however it's not sustainable for the long term. The explosion of the smartphone market with the iPhone and RiM lead in the market at the time when shift to smartphones took off in the consumer segment has allowed them to maintain this stopgap for a lot longer than is typically possible, but they will ultimately need to have proper engineering in HW, SW and ecosystem or they will crumble like so many before them. There is no new ground here. This has all happened before and this will happen again.
ANDROID: Huge market share, ZERO revenue.
haha!
http://www.reuters.com/article/idCNT...0101029?rpc=44
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2371099,00.asp
http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/07/tech...roid/index.htm
You should really read this one.
Typically, that isn't how it works. The "retailer" or the vendor can contact each other if an effort to find ways to benefit each other.
If the retailer can't move the product then they will return product or refuse future product (if the product was pre-paid with no consignment for return). Similarly the vendor can intact retailers with plans to benefit each other by suggesting such deals. RiM has great management and increased their YoY profit per quarter by increasing their unit sales, but they've mostly done this at the expense of their per unit profit.
This is a great short term tactic, however it's not sustainable for the long term. The explosion of the smartphone market with the iPhone and RiM lead in the market at the time when shift to smartphones took off in the consumer segment has allowed them to maintain this stopgap for a lot longer than is typically possible, but they will ultimately need to have proper engineering in HW, SW and ecosystem or they will crumble like so many before them. There is no new ground here. This has all happened before and this will happen again.
Thanks for the explanation. I personally don't believe that the BOGO is the only reason Android is doing so well (it's more of a booster). Like I said, it helps on the family side, but for the individuals, this offer makes no difference to them.
I find it a little insulting when people who prefer an iPhone come up with these degrading reasons for why people purchase phones other than an iPhone (like the "has less income" or "are basement dwellers" that have been posted here). Why can't it be possible for someone to buy an Android phone (or any other OS smartphone) for the simple reason that it works the best for them?
Jobs talks about iOS DEVICES, which fans of Android conveniently overlook in discussions of Android marketshare tending to focus, as they do, only on iPhones.
It will be interesting to see if the same split is applied when devices such as the Galaxy Tab and Dell streak start building Android marketshare.
They actually aren't overlooked at all. The vast majority of Android devices currently available are smartphones. Hence the comparison to the iPhone only. You have to be a bit logical about this too. If numbers came out for Android devices that included its use in household appliances, cars, airplane entertainment systems, etc, wouldn't you cry foul too?
But I agree that once the Android-powered tablets start becoming more mainstream, I'd like to see how the total numbers compare.
These analysts call themselves professionals but they cannot distinguish which is comparable from not. The more comparable thing is to compare HTC's sales to that of iPhone.
It's a hardware thing not software since consumers are buying the hardwares not the OS of smartphones unlike in the PC world wherein consumers have the option to buy or download Windows or Mac OS and Linux.
Thanks for the explanation. I personally don't believe that the BOGO is the only reason Android is doing so well (it's more of a booster). Like I said, it helps on the family side, but for the individuals, this offer makes no difference to them.
I find it a little insulting when people who prefer an iPhone come up with these degrading reasons for why people purchase phones other than an iPhone (like the "has less income" or "are basement dwellers" that have been posted here). Why can't it be possible for someone to buy an Android phone (or any other OS smartphone) for the simple reason that it works the best for them?
But it?s all connected. These BOGO deals from RiM appear to have come about because RiM and Verizon (for example) we?re able to compete directly with a 1:1 sale. This speaks directly toward the desirability of a device that used to be sold for considerably more money, which in turn will affect the company?s ability to compete if they continue down this path. As I previously stated, RiM is very well managed and the iPhone serendipitously opened up a path for many smartphone vendors in the consumer sector.
PS: The longterm problem is what plagues the majority of the ?PC? industry now, that is most systems being sold with little to no profit except for the measly scrapes they can make from selling crapware space. These companies are still ?innovating? but they are innovating new ways to cut corners, which isn?t exactly a benefit to the user or the user experience. RiM is better off than any of the Android-based devs because they make their own OS, but they need to push their OS into the 21st century, which is something that they don?t seem to be doing with their Playbook running Adobe AIR as the UI.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idCNT...0101029?rpc=44
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2371099,00.asp
http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/07/tech...roid/index.htm
You should really read this one.
From your last link?If we going to measure revenue by support systems, then Google can claim pretty much every modern OS out there since they are the default search engine on most (if not all) of them. It?s like Apple saying they make billions or a year from WebKit because it was the truly great part of the original iPhone that no one could compete with.