So how exactly is Apple losing marketshare to Google's Android platform?

[anon(4698833)]

How many times have we had trolls and even some irritating members swoop in and say "Apple is getting decimated by Android device sales!" or some variant of the same idea. We get into a debate, we talk about comparing singular devices against Apple's singular smart phone option, but we still get the same old story, the whole "Woe is Apple" routine.

Well, here's a nice article (albeit from Engadget, which I don't particularly care for most times) showing a pretty monumental piece of information about what phones are actually controlling the market...and it leaves me feeling the same as always, Apple has nothing to worry about since they don't even compete within the league that Android does most of their business...lol!

Most new Android phones sell for less than $200

 

[the_tech_eater]

I posted a thread about this a few hours ago, but apparently it's not showing up.

Anyways, I totally agree. I've been trying to say for over two years that this is exactly why android has theater share that it does.

 

[Flow39]

I feel like I have to explain this to every real-life Android fan I come across. They diss on Apple and say they don't have marketshare, they're dying, blah blah.

Thanks for sharing

 

[pr1nce]

Sean, thanks for sharing this.

 

[Speedygi]

Nah, I think Apple has Android to worry about, just that they have their dominant markets and profit share to stay above BlackBerry and Windows Phone territory.

 

[the_tech_eater]

Nah, I think Apple has Android to worry about, just that they have their dominant markets and profit share to stay above BlackBerry and Windows Phone territory.

So you think bmw should worry about Honda Civics?

 

[Speedygi]

So you think bmw should worry about Honda Civics?

You are basically posing a different sort of scenario. People (largely) view phones as one big category, while cars are viewed more in their separate classes. It isn't as defined in the smartphone market, at least I don't think so.

Ask a good deal of people and they still compare Samsung with Apple...

 

[the_tech_eater]

You are basically posing a different sort of scenario. People (largely) view phones as one big category, while cars are viewed more in their separate classes. It isn't as defined in the smartphone market, at least I don't think so.

People DO NOT view phones as one big category. You wouldn't believe how friends and relatives I have that own these $100-200 cheap straight talk phones that happen to run android, but they view iPhones the holy grail of smartphones phones. They just can't afford to buy one. And Samsung makes most of these cheap phones, at least the ones here in the states. And even if Samsung didn't make a lot of these $100-200 "smartphones", Apple still has no need to worry about them. Have you seen the Galaxy S5 sale figures? Or Samsung's YOY sales numbers?

 

[Speedygi]

People DO NOT view phones as one big category. You wouldn't believe how friends and relatives I have that own these $100-200 cheap straight talk phones that happen to run android, but they view iPhones the holy grail of smartphones phones. They just can't afford to buy one.

People refer to cheap phones because of the cheaper Android phones, but if you look at the higher end, people still compare the M8 (for example) with the iPhone. It's not like the iPhone rules the high end the way Ferrari would in the luxury car segment, I don't think so...

 

[anon(4698833)]

You are basically posing a different sort of scenario. People (largely) view phones as one big category, while cars are viewed more in their separate classes. It isn't as defined in the smartphone market, at least I don't think so.

Ask a good deal of people and they still compare Samsung with Apple...

He's not posing a different scenario at all...it's actually quite relevant. People don't view phones as one big category, in fact, a majority of consumers fall into two very defined categories...those that want a full featured smart phone (and will pay for it) and those that simply want a basic phone for service (or have no choice to do so based on their financial abilities).

While the car world may have many more divisions, the relevance is still there...someone going to the market looking for an iPhone is NOT cross shopping the majority of the sub-$200 android devices. They are cross shopping the similarly priced smart phones on the market from HTC, Samsung, Nokia, etc.

And then you have to look at where these cheaper Android devices are making the most movement...international markets like China, India, Russia and other Asian countries where income levels, on average, would be well below the standard that you find in the US or UK...making the cheaper devices far more enticing because they get smart phone features in a more affordable package...this goes the same for cars, TV's, food...really anything on the consumer market in those places.

I maintain that Apple sells a luxury product, and thus does not have any focus on that cheaper segment in terms of marketshare because it's not relevant to the company itself. They've never been a company worried about entry level products, because they aren't an entry level company.

 

[Speedygi]

He's not posing a different scenario at all...it's actually quite relevant. People don't view phones as one big category, in fact, a majority of consumers fall into two very defined categories...those that want a full featured smart phone (and will pay for it) and those that simply want a basic phone for service (or have no choice to do so based on their financial abilities).

While the car world may have many more divisions, the relevance is still there...someone going to the market looking for an iPhone is NOT cross shopping the majority of the sub-$200 android devices. They are cross shopping the similarly priced smart phones on the market from HTC, Samsung, Nokia, etc.

And then you have to look at where these cheaper Android devices are making the most movement...international markets like China, India, Russia and other Asian countries where income levels, on average, would be well below the standard that you find in the US or UK...making the cheaper devices far more enticing because they get smart phone features in a more affordable package...this goes the same for cars, TV's, food...really anything on the consumer market in those places.

I maintain that Apple sells a luxury product, and thus does not have any focus on that cheaper segment in terms of marketshare because it's not relevant to the company itself. They've never been a company worried about entry level products, because they aren't an entry level company.

Android has luxury phones as well, isn't that so?

 

[anon(4698833)]

Android has luxury phones as well, isn't that so?

Yes, it does. I'm curious how this is relevant at all to the discussion based on the article I posted?

 

[Speedygi]

I'm curious if you even realize what kind of devices the article I posted was referencing in regards to Android phones.

Essentially you are saying Apple shouldn't be worried because they are competing for the high end demographic, but I'm just saying that even in that category Apple has serious competition as well as possess zero marketshare in the low end and phablet categories.

I'm saying that if it's Microsoft or BlackBerry instead, and not Apple, we would be seeing a serious threat instead. But I did mention how Apple has good enough market share and profits to be able to pull them above a potentially troubling position.

 

[Speedygi]

Yea but Sean mentioned those -"They are cross shopping the similarly priced smart phones on the market from HTC, Samsung, Nokia, etc."

If you want to compare apples to apples, you have to look at market share for the iPhone vs the Samsung S4/5, the HTC M8, etc rather than all Android phones.

Alright, I see what you are saying. Well, okay.

 

[anon(4698833)]

Essentially you are saying Apple shouldn't be worried because they are competing for the high end demographic, but I'm just saying that even in that category Apple has serious competition as well as possess zero marketshare in the low end and phablet categories.

I'm saying that if it's Microsoft or BlackBerry instead, and not Apple, we would be seeing a serious threat instead. But I did mention how Apple has good enough market share and profits to be able to pull them above a potentially troubling position.

I don't think you actually understand what you're saying here...take a moment and look at the discussion a little more closely. My post specifically points out the Android devices in the LOW END/ENTRY LEVEL market...something Apple doesn't even dabble in, yet people want to use Android's total number of sales/marketshare as a device to say Apple is falling behind competitively because they do not sell as many devices as the TOTAL number of Android devices sold.

Like the_tech_eater said...this would be like saying a luxury car manufacturer should be worried about the number of compact cars sold on the market because they don't sell as many. It's an asinine argument because they are not relevant to one another.

There are luxury tier Android based devices, but the discussion is never that specific when talking about Apple's marketshare. It's only EVER about the total amount Android vs. Apple, and that is what my article references, and clearly defines as being ridiculously moot.

Apple has competition in that category, but it isn't serious at all. Hell, the iPhone 5 was outselling the Galaxy S4 just before the S5 was released, and it was almost 2 years old at that point...iPhone 5S was WAY ahead. And that continues against the Galaxy S5, where the iPhone 5S continues to outsell the Samsung flagship. You will see the Galaxy S5 catch up this month as the new iPhone gets closer to release, but the 5S will STILL be relevant and probably #2 on the market even after a year of release and with a new replacement just around the corner.

Samsung makes the closest competitive devices to the iPhone on the market in terms of marketshare and profit share...and the iPhone is consistently the leader of that group of high tier devices.

 

[Premium1]

The low end market is why apple will maintain a small market share. They do not care about that and only care about profit over market share, which seems to work for them.

 

[Flow39]

If we were to take a glance of the high end Android market (phones $600 and above) vs the iPhone, I think we'll see that the iPhone dominates a majority of the high-end market. Apple has never been about catering to the world, they cater to the people who want the absolute best they can get.

 

[Ledsteplin]

I don't know about Android in general, but Samsung seems to be more concerned with the Chinese smartphone makers than with Apple and the iPhone. It's the Chinese who are cutting into Samsung's market share. Or will be soon.

 

[natasftw]

Essentially you are saying Apple shouldn't be worried because they are competing for the high end demographic, but I'm just saying that even in that category Apple has serious competition as well as possess zero marketshare in the low end and phablet categories.

I'm saying that if it's Microsoft or BlackBerry instead, and not Apple, we would be seeing a serious threat instead. But I did mention how Apple has good enough market share and profits to be able to pull them above a potentially troubling position.

Toyota makes both Toyota models and Lexus models.

If I'm looking at luxury cars, I'll compare the BMW to the Lexus while completely ignoring the Toyota models. If we look at total cars sold, Toyota is in two markets and SHOULD show a higher number than BMW. If we look at the market BMW competes in, the number is much different.

You're saying they have competition and you're right in that. However, you're also willing to count all of the low-end Android devices in the numbers used for the conversation. THAT is misguided, at best. It doesn't offer a clear picture. In fact, it adds irrelevant information to intentionally blur the picture. To counter Sean's argument, it simply doesn't make sense to say ask if Android also makes high end phones. The only way this makes sense is if the number of low-end Android phones being sold is small enough it's negligible. As that's not the case, you're not actually making a point.

 

[kilofoxtrot]

Depending on how one defines "marketshare".... Apple and Android are both "winning" or "losing".