To everyone who has owned both an iPhone and a droid?

[wats60]

I have owned BB, Nexus S, and I like the iPhone 4S the best of all!


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[DrewBear]

And android industry on the other hand is a free and open source type of industry, where there is no one company rule, everyone can simply create or modify any type of software they want!

This is good for manufacturers and cell carriers who want to load their own bloatware on top of the stock Android OS. It is good for developers who want to create malicious or data mining apps. It is also good for honest developers who otherwise prefer not to go through an approval process.

But how is this good for the majority of consumers? What percentage of Android users root their phones? What percentage of that small group (aside from developers) actually write software for their phones? Has this "open" platform resulted in apps of greater quantity and quality?

I think Android is great. It provides choice for consumers: different screen sizes, form factors, price points, etc. But there are drawbacks to an "open" platform that people should be aware of, especially non-techie types.

 

[DannyMichel]

My opinion is that iOS is definitely more popular, but not necessarily better. Apples and oranges. Hardware on the other hand is another story. Plenty of phones better than the iPhone overall in that area


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[DrewBear]

My opinion is that iOS is definitely more popular, but not necessarily better. Apples and oranges. Hardware on the other hand is another story. Plenty of phones better than the iPhone overall in that area

Technically more Android devices get activated each month. I guess it depends on how you define "popular". Likewise with the word "better" in terms of hardware. Is a 4.65" PenTile Super AMOLED display "better" than a 3.5" Retina display? Is the Galaxy Nexus' 1.2 GHz dual-core processor "better" than the iPhone 4Ses unspecificied clock speed A5? How do the respective graphics processors work to improve performance? Is a thin, light, mostly plastic phone "better" than a slightly thicker, heavier phone made of stainless steel and glass?

Even with hardware specs there are many subjective judgments to be made. Consumers make those judgements individually with their money. My guess is the iPhone family has "scored" more money than all the Android devices put together. The iPhone 4S will continue that pattern despite claims of all these "better" Android phones. I don't know how else you would judge what hardware specs are "better" than another.

Last, but not least, let's remember that hardware is meaningless without software and vice versa. It's the integration of the two that matters most in determining the total user experience. The Motorola Xoom is arguably good hardware matched with not-yet-ready-for-primetime Honeycomb. WebOS was arguably good software embedded in sub-par TouchPad hardware.

Then you have something like the Droid Bionic: supposedly great hardware with great software. Yet people aren't lining up for this phone. Why? Will the Droid Razr be better with its single core processor? Or are people waiting for the Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.0 and its 5 MP camera? Maybe people will line up for one of those phones, right?

So are there really "Plenty of phones better than the iPhone"? Who is the judge of that? We, the consumer, are. We get as many votes as we can afford to pay for. No one can tell you how to vote. That's up to you. What is "better" for you may not be "better" for someone else. But if you count up the money votes, the iPhone 4S is going to win this current round by a landslide.

 

[Infiniti7]

there is no phone better than the iphone period. has the best software, hardware, and apps. nothing compares enought said. iphone dominates the phone world

 

[DannyMichel]

there is no phone better than the iphone period. has the best software, hardware, and apps. nothing compares enought said. iphone dominates the phone world

Haha, you definitely sound like you know exactly what you're talking about and you're not an ignorant fan-boy at all


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[Eileen89]

there is no phone better than the iphone period. has the best software, hardware, and apps. nothing compares enought said. iphone dominates the phone world

Sorry, but Q3 numbers say otherwise. Samsung takes the lead from Apple. After Q4 sales come in from the iPhone 4S Apple may take it back, however, only time will tell. Market shifts: Samsung beats iPhone in sales, ZTE passes Apple in global cell phone volume | 9to5Mac | Apple Intelligence

 

[Timhewitt]

Samsung doesn't publish sales figures, they publish shipments. Apple publishes sales figures, not shipments. We don't know if there are warehouses full of Samsung phones or not.... But we do know that iPhones are back ordered in nearly all models. You can decide which numbers are more meaningful.

 

[Eileen89]

Samsung doesn't publish sales figures, they publish shipments. Apple publishes sales figures, not shipments. We don't know if there are warehouses full of Samsung phones or not.... But we do know that iPhones are back ordered in nearly all models. You can decide which numbers are more meaningful.

Samsungs Galaxy S2 was also on backorder status for AT&T at least. The 4S wasn't out when the totals were done for Q3 so backordered units are irrelevant. I would expect Q4 results for Apple to be much higher, however, there are other high end Samsung devices that are due out soon as well, which is why I said time will tell.

 

[anon(4698833)]

there is no phone better than the iphone period. has the best software, hardware, and apps. nothing compares enought said. iphone dominates the phone world

Do you have an Apple tattoo?

 

[DannyMichel]

Do you have an Apple tattoo?

That was actually funny


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[DrewBear]

Samsung doesn't publish sales figures, they publish shipments. Apple publishes sales figures, not shipments. We don't know if there are warehouses full of Samsung phones or not.... But we do know that iPhones are back ordered in nearly all models. You can decide which numbers are more meaningful.

It's interesting that Samsung (and many other phone makers) stopped reporting both unit sales numbers of smartphones and their ASP (average selling price). With the exception of Apple's, all these other "shipped" numbers being thrown around are conjured up by analytical firms that conduct mysterious surveys.

All these companies are in business to make a profit. Samsung reported ~$2.2 billion USD profits from their ?telecommunications sector?, which includes many other products aside from smartphones. No doubt smartphones account for the largest chunk of that profit, so let's be very generous and say $1.5B is from smartphones.

Apple reported $6.6B of total profits last quarter. The iPhone represents ~60% of those profits, which comes out to ~$4B profit from iPhones. Compare that to Samsung's ~$1.5B. Do you really think Samsung believes they "beat" Apple in the smartphone biz?

So let's just drop all these claims of companies "beating" Apple's iPhone. Any of the smartphone manufacturers will gladly trade places with Apple in terms of unit market-share vs profit-share.

 

[Infiniti7]

look at the sales buddy. apple dominates any single droid phone out there. there are so many droids but the iphone will outsell any single droid there is

 

[736dave]

Do you have an Apple tattoo?

Ooooh. Good idea. Now I am REALLY torn. Tatt of my daughters names; tatt of my regiment; or tatt of apple?

-d
Ugh!

 

[vangordernick]

You should have just named your daughter Apple and you wouldn't be in the predicament.

 

[Appleshampoo]

To be honest I owned the original MOTO droid on Verizon for a year and finally switched to an iPhone 4 (and now iPhone 4S)

While I had my droid rooted and call customized, I honestly just love the iPhone. It just feels better. Physically an through the software. Apple knows how to take their time and make quality products whereas I felt android was just a crappy port or like Linux.

 

[736dave]

You should have just named your daughter Apple and you wouldn't be in the predicament.

Touch?.

Maybe I could have compromised and called her Lisa.

At least I didn't call her "Android".

 

[Matchoo]

Who really cares if Samsung is in fact selling more? Does it change the fact that you like your iPhone?

 

[IIJBII]

Who really cares if Samsung is in fact selling more? Does it change the fact that you like your iPhone?

Agree. People often look at the wrong things when making opinions. It's what works for you.

 

[HeyGreggie]

So people with androids seriously come to apple forums to talk smack? Haha