“The highlights of IDC’s mobile phone report for the second quarter of 2014 don’t bode well for the also rans, Microsoft and Blackberry,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune.
“All told, Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS accounted for 96.4% of the units shipped, according to IDC,” P.E.D. reports. “‘It’s been an incredible upward slog for other OS players,’ said IDC’s Melissa Chau.”
“What she didn’t say — but the attached chart implies — is that it hasn’t exactly been a walk in the woods for the dominant Android makers either,” P.E.D. reports. “According to IDC, 58.6% of all Android smartphone shipments worldwide cost less than $200 off contract… Apple meanwhile continued to skim the cream off the smartphone market in what is historically its slowest quarter of the year.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we explained way back in November 2012:
It’s the marketing, stupid.
Android is pushed to users who are, in general:
a) confused about why they should be choosing an iPhone over an inferior knockoff and therefore might be less prone to understand/explore their devices’ capabilities or trust their devices with credit card info for shopping; and/or
b) enticed with “Buy One Get One Free,” “Buy One, Get Two or More Free,” or similar offers.Neither type of customer is the cream of the crop when it comes to successful engagement or coveted demographics; closer to the bottom of the barrel than the top, in fact. Android can be widespread and still demographically inferior precisely because of the way in which and to whom Android devices are marketed. Unending BOGO promos attract a seemingly unending stream of cheapskate freetards just as inane, pointless TV commercials about robots or blasting holes in concrete walls attract meatheads and dullards, not exactly the best demographics unless you’re peddling muscle-building powders or grease monkey overalls.
Google made a crucial mistake: They gave away Android to “partners” who pushed and continue to push the product into the hands of the exact opposite type of user that Google needs for Android to truly thrive. Hence, Android is a backwater of second-rate, or worse, app versions that are only downloaded when free or ad-supported – but the Android user is notoriously cheap, so the ads don’t sell for much because they don’t work very well. You’d have guessed that Google would have understood this, but you’d have guessed wrong.
Google built a platform that depends heavily on advertising support, but sold it to the very type of customer who’s the least likely to patronize ads.
iOS users are the ones who buy apps, so developers focus on iOS users. iOS users buy products, so accessory makers focus on iOS users. iOS users have money and the proven will to spend it, so vehicle makers focus on iOS users. Etcetera. Android can have the “Hee Haw” demographic. Apple doesn’t want it or need it; it’s far more trouble than it’s worth.
Related articles:
iOS users seven times more active than those who settle for Android – August 4, 2014
Report: Google’s Android the ‘preferred platform’ for terrorists – August 1, 2014
Yet more proof that Android is for poor people – June 27, 2014
More proof that Android is for poor people – May 13, 2014
Apple’s iOS dominates in richer countries, Android in poorer regions – March 25, 2014
IDC: Apple iPhone to maintain high value, margins, and market share through 2018 – February 28, 2014
Why Apple’s iPhone keeps raking in the majority of mobile phone profits – March 19, 2014
Apple dominates with 60% share of mobile phone profits – March 18, 2014
Android has the most unit share, but Apple dominates profit share, making more money than all Android smartphone makers combined – November 15, 2013
Android users poorer, shorter, unhealthier, less educated, far less charitable than Apple iPhone users – November 13, 2013
IDC data shows two thirds of Android’s 81% smartphone share are cheap junk phones – November 13, 2013
IDC: Android worldwide smartphone market share passes 80% – November 12, 2013
Apple Maps makes killer comeback as Google Maps loses access to world’s most desirable mobile customers – November 12, 2013
Android phones 3 times more likely than Apple iPhones to have been bought at discount store – August 22, 2013
CIRP: Apple iPhone users are younger, richer, and better educated than those who settle for Samsung knockoff phones – August 19, 2013
Twitter heat map shows iPhone use by the affluent, Android by the poor – June 20, 2013
Apple’s iPhone generates more in carrier fees than rival smartphones – January 30, 2013
Unsurprisingly, survey says Apple’s iOS is highest priority among mobile developers – January 23, 2013
People buy more Android phone units and do less with them vs. Apple’s revolutionary iPhone – November 14, 2012
Study: iPad users more likely to buy – and buy more – online than traditional PC users – September 29, 2011
iPhone users smarter, richer than Android phone users – August 16, 2011
Yankee Group: Apple iPhone owners shop more, buy more, remain more loyal vs. other device users – July 20, 2010
iPhone owners more likely to pay for digital content – November 26, 2009
Study: Apple iPhone users richer, younger, more productive than other so-called ‘smartphone’ users – June 12, 2009
Apple iPhone users buy many more apps, surf the Web much more than other ‘smartphone’ users – March 27, 2009
MDN, do you have on file IDC’s report from years back where they were predicting the 2014 smartphone landscape?
Nothing for 2014 from IDC, but we do have:
IDC: Windows Phone to surpass Apple’s iOS by 2015
That one will be good for more than a few laughs next year.
I always take IDC numbers with a grain of salt, but if their current report is to be believed and 20% of all Android smartphones sold are premium then that is more than all of iPhone’s market share. Not that market share counts, or does it?
Keep in mind that the difference between a base-model $650 iPhone 5s and the $400 mark (the arbitrary division between mid-tier and high-end) is greater than the entire mid-tier range. Meaning that comparing a “high-end” ($400) phone to an iPhone 5s is hardly an apples-to-apples comparison. Going by IDC’s line, even the three-generations-old iPhone 4s is a “high-end phone” at $450.
In fact, I wonder what would happen if IDC arbitrarily decided to move the divider up to $500. How many of those supposedly high-end Android devices would be considered mid-tier? I’m guessing a large chunk of them.
@docwallaby:
Any report covering IDC could just say these three words:
“IDC arbitrarily decided” – so good job putting them together. 🙂
IDC’s numbers are manipulative. Apple only price point below $400 is $399. You can not compare it to Android, where average price for that range is like $250.
Google is still making plenty of money off iOS users so long as Apple refuses to build its own search engine. Only then could Apple really take the cream off the top of Google’s revenue and profit. These guys have a strategy to turn Apple’s bread and butter, hardware, into cheap commoditized junk. The only effective counterattack is to strike at the heart of their greatest enemy yet.
I take it you don’t think Apple is working on this? I think they are but I don’t believe it’s the type of search we all know now.
Looking at the current world of search, typing something into a search field will go away. Speaking a command or searching using a combination of location and voice is the future in my opinion. Be it a hand held device or something you wear like a wrist band would work.
Speaking is not always an option. Text search will be around at least until the iCanreadyourmind device is released.
Agreed, typing in a search will be around for a long, long time but how exactly would you type on a wearable device? I wasn’t referring to all search but if you look at the cell phone, did people see or understand Apples vision before it came out?
Let’s say Siri could be used on a wearable device like a wrist band, you wouldn’t need to or couldn’t type easily. Also, Siri could use others search engines but I believe similar to maps, Apple is working on their own search engine. It makes sense with the amount of money and control the current search engines have. Do I trust Google search to give me actual results or am I looking just looking at the highest bidder?
I’m guessing but I would bet Apple has been working on their own search engine and will integrate it when there is a benefit to their customers.
Right, that’s why text message usage is waning as everyone returns to voice calls. Lol.
Text search isn’t going anywhere. Voice programs will always be relegated to mere supplements of typing your search queries. Until Apple builds their own search engine, whatever else they do in terms of “working on it,” as you say, will not be good enough.
Why do people hate Apple partisans? Because Apple partisans insult everyone else with stuff like this. They insulted everyone else when Windows reigned. They are now insulting Android fans. And when the tech world moves, they will insult whoever is competing with Apple then also.
Bottom of the barrel. Meatballs. Grease monkeys. Dullards. Freetards. And you guys wonder why everyone hates you?
You only look at these things like a fanboy whose favorite video game got a bad review. If you did any research whatsoever, you would see that M$ and Google are behind some seriously shady stuff. For example: M$ and Google both support Autism Speaks, a known eugenics group that wants to get rid of autistic people. They support abortions of autistic babies because they feel it will “clean up the human genome”. This is scary stuff, and M$/Google supports this. I can’t see why a sane person would support anything like this.
LOL
You wonder why Apple fans look down at haters like yourself?
LOL, go LOOK at YOUR OWN POST! :
you come to a Apple fan site:
and YOU WRITE A POST NOT FOCUSED ON THE TOPIC AT HAND BUT JUST SPEWS HATE ON APPLE FANS!
not one freaking word about phone sales, market share etc!
And you wonder why apple fans look at you haters with derision ?
🙂
but Atlman I DO have some useful facts on the topic:
Apple dominates the profit in spite of whatever market share stats the analysts guess it (profit numbers are verifiable via financial reports, market share is guesstimates as most android makers don’t release unit numbers).
Asymco 2014:
“indeed, since the launch of the iPhone[3] the net profits earned by the collection of protagonists shown was $215 billion[4]. 60% has been earned by Apple, a newcomer to the market. That figure is also consistent on an ongoing basis, having reached 60% as early as 2011 and remained in a band around that figure since.”
So what the above means:
Apple MAKES MORE MONEY THAN ALL THE ANDROID, WIN, BLACKBERRY, TIZEN ETC PHONES PUT TOGETHER!
now doesn’t that fascinate you altman?
by the way since you mentioned Msft, Macs make 40-50% of the profits of the PCs of the world as well, i.e Macs make more money than all the PCs put out by Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer combined.
where it counts… APPLE IS WINNING ON ALL FRONTS.
see I added more pertinent info to the topic of Apple market share. Easy.
cheers.