Apple's Schiller speaks out against Android on eve of Galaxy S4 debut

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
With just hours to go before Samsung is expected to announce the next-generation Galaxy S4 smartphone, Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller offered his thoughts on why devices running Google's Android are inferior products compared to the iPhone and iOS.

In a rare interview with The Wall Street Journal, Schiller went over fourth quarter 2012 metrics related to "switchers," or handset users who switched between an iPhone and an Android. Citing Apple research, the executive said that four times as many iPhone users switched away from Android than to a handset running Google's mobile OS.

Schiller
Apple SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller


Schiller also pointed to one of the major shortcomings of the Android platform: fragmentation. He noted that many Android users are running old versions of the OS, whereas Apple's implementation of iOS is more uniform.

"Android is often given [as] a free replacement for a feature phone and the experience isn't as good as an iPhone," he said.

Digging into the Android ecosystem, Schiller noted that because different elements of the UI originate from different companies, the platform "suffers." While sometimes derided for being a "walled garden," Apple's system of controlling both hardware and software allows for a more cohesive and user-friendly experience.

"When you take an Android device out of the box, you have to sign up to nine accounts with different vendors to get the experience iOS comes with," he said. "They don't work seamlessly together."

Samsung is scheduled to unveil the newest flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone at an event in New York on Thursday night.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 212
    daharderdaharder Posts: 1,580member


    ...as though he'd say anything 'different'.

  • Reply 2 of 212
    igrivigriv Posts: 1,177member
    "When you take an Android device out of the box, you have to sign up to nine accounts with different vendors to get the experience iOS comes with," he said. "They don't work seamlessly together."

    I have an Android Kindle, and I did not have to sign up with anyone. What is he on about (yes, I know Amazon is not like everyone else, but he seems to be making a blanket statement)
  • Reply 3 of 212
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member


    Well, Andy Ihnatko switched so...

  • Reply 4 of 212
    sacto joesacto joe Posts: 895member
    Thanks, Phil! We need more of that from Apple spokesmen!
  • Reply 5 of 212
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    lkrupp wrote: »
    Well, Andy Ihnatko switched so...

    So what? He has fat fingers and no taste.

    Edit: Bless him, I just recalled that he dropped and broke his first iPhone 4 review unit. At least he told the story publicly. But he has fumbling fingers. His main complaint about the iPhone was that he kept turning on the dictation by accidently hitting the microphone"key." Lots of people commented that they never do that. I don't either.
  • Reply 6 of 212
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    "When you take an Android device out of the box, you have to sign up to nine accounts with different vendors to get the experience iOS comes with," he said. "They don't work seamlessly together."


    So you can get the same experience on Android as you get with iPhone after you sign up for nine accounts?


     


    I don't think so. Apple has better integration for sure. If you are a Mac user or an iPad user or an Apple TV user you should definitely get the iPhone as well as they all work together.

  • Reply 7 of 212
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by igriv View Post



    "When you take an Android device out of the box, you have to sign up to nine accounts with different vendors to get the experience iOS comes with," he said. "They don't work seamlessly together."



    I have an Android Kindle, and I did not have to sign up with anyone. What is he on about (yes, I know Amazon is not like everyone else, but he seems to be making a blanket statement)




    I've heard of a "Kindle", and a "Kindle Fire", but never an "Android Kindle".  Is that a new model or are you just spinning it to make some point?



    There is no "Android Kindle".  It's not an out-of-the-box Android tablet.  It's Amazon's forked AndroidOS tablet handcuffed to its own ecosystem, and you very well know that. It has nothing to do with the general-use Android OS.



    Nice try though.

  • Reply 8 of 212
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    igriv wrote: »
    "When you take an Android device out of the box, you have to sign up to nine accounts with different vendors to get the experience iOS comes with," he said. "They don't work seamlessly together."

    I have an Android Kindle, and I did not have to sign up with anyone. What is he on about (yes, I know Amazon is not like everyone else, but he seems to be making a blanket statement)

    I think he's drawing a deep distinction, maybe just slightly out of your reach.
  • Reply 9 of 212
    eksodoseksodos Posts: 186member

    hmm

  • Reply 10 of 212
    jfc1138jfc1138 Posts: 3,090member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by igriv View Post



    "When you take an Android device out of the box, you have to sign up to nine accounts with different vendors to get the experience iOS comes with," he said. "They don't work seamlessly together."



    I have an Android Kindle, and I did not have to sign up with anyone. What is he on about (yes, I know Amazon is not like everyone else, but he seems to be making a blanket statement)


    Amazon's Kindle is another "walled garden" as it were: meant by Amazon to be a gateway to their online store. In large part that's why they sell the hardware at a loss, because it still makes business sense in the overall corporate sense for Amazon as a whole (to the extent anything about their finances makes sense... I long ago expected them to actually turn a profit..)

  • Reply 11 of 212
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    What 9 accounts? He obviously has no idea what he's talking about.
  • Reply 12 of 212
    majjomajjo Posts: 574member
    jfc1138 wrote: »
    Amazon's Kindle is another "walled garden" as it were: meant by Amazon to be a gateway to their online store. In large part that's why they sell the hardware at a loss, because it still makes business sense in the overall corporate sense for Amazon as a whole (to the extent anything about their finances makes sense... I long ago expected them to actually turn a profit..)

    /shrug all I had to do to set up my nexus 4 was log in to my Google account. OK OK I admit I had to log into Facebook as well. Other than that though, it was pretty much good to go. I had a harder time setting up my iphone4 back in the day... Granted I still needed iTunes back then.
  • Reply 13 of 212
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    igriv wrote: »
    "When you take an Android device out of the box, you have to sign up to nine accounts with different vendors to get the experience iOS comes with," he said. "They don't work seamlessly together."

    I have an Android Kindle, and I did not have to sign up with anyone. What is he on about (yes, I know Amazon is not like everyone else, but he seems to be making a blanket statement)

    If you are going twist his meaning you might as well go full throttle and say you have an Amazon Linux tablet.
  • Reply 14 of 212
    evokenevoken Posts: 56member
    Doesn't knows what he is talking about really, I like Schiller and all but he should just stop with these "tweets", it is embarrassing.
  • Reply 15 of 212
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by igriv View Post



    "When you take an Android device out of the box, you have to sign up to nine accounts with different vendors to get the experience iOS comes with," he said. "They don't work seamlessly together."



    I have an Android Kindle, and I did not have to sign up with anyone. What is he on about (yes, I know Amazon is not like everyone else, but he seems to be making a blanket statement)


     


    A kindle is not a phone, what are YOU on about?


     


    When you boot a Samsung phone (after signing up to some sort of phone plan so it works), you are prompted to sign up a Samsung account, a Google account (asking for a credit card), a dropbox account among others, HTC handsets are the same except it's a HTC account.

  • Reply 16 of 212
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    Citing Apple research, the executive said that four times as many iPhone users switched away from Android than to a handset running Google's mobile OS.

    1. I don't think it's a good idea to talk about a competitors product, right before launch

    2. I can understand there are many Android users switching to an iPhone, but the statement that this number is 4 times as high than people switching to an Android device seems silly if we don't know where they switch from (Apple, BB, MS?)
  • Reply 17 of 212
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Evoken View Post



    Doesn't knows what he is talking about really, I like Schiller and all but he should just stop with these "tweets", it is embarrassing.


    I thought this was an interview with the Wall Street Journal?

  • Reply 18 of 212
    eksodoseksodos Posts: 186member


    hmm

  • Reply 19 of 212
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    philboogie wrote: »
    1. I don't think it's a good idea to talk about a competitors product, right before launch

    It doesn't sound desperate and very Ballmerish.

    If he's at an interview and asked a direct question then I think it's appropriate but to just blurt it out in a tweet the day the Samsung Galaxy S IV gets announced seems like it would give them more free press.

    edit: It looks like this was an interview and not simply a series of tweets. Now to figure out how I thought that in the first place.
  • Reply 20 of 212
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member


    The media will put a negative spin on this of course, but I'm glad someone from Apple is finally fighting back.

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