“How many times do you hear people reference ‘market share’ and the growth of Google’s Android platform as evidence of Apple’s demise?” Rocco Pendola asks for TheStreet. “Too often. It should never happen. When it does, make no mistake, you’re witnessing a wholesale misunderstanding of Apple… it serves to further pollute the waters vis-a-vis what Apple is about.”
“We’ll see how he decides to proceed, but, for the time being, it appears Tim Cook is more like Steve Jobs than many of us gave him credit for at the outset. At Apple’s core, Cook looks as focused, committed and even stubborn as Jobs. For whatever reason, the media glosses over so much of what Cook had to say on Apple’s most recent earnings call and at this week’s Goldman Sachs’ powwow,” Pendola writes. “Things like … paraphrasing here … We could do lots of things to generate revenue, but we’re not going to just produce random products because we can. That’s not a talking point. And, if it is, it’s wholly genuine. Apple could — tomorrow — do several things to become the market share leader in everything. Not just tablets.”
“If Apple decided to license its operating systems (iOS and OS X), with very few rules, to all those willing to run them, it would likely crush Android within a few minutes… It might even save companies such as Dell and Hewlett Packard from their pending deaths. It would be earth shattering,” Pendola writes. “Of course, it will never happen. Shouldn’t. Probably can’t. But, the point here is that Apple is not a market share company. It’s an aspirational brand with considerable social status.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes. Licensing iOS and/or OS X would only degrade the experience and the Apple brand as tasteless, greedy companies shove Apple’s crown jewels into their cut-rate, consumer-grade lumps like diamonds in turds.
Android devices and Windows PCs exist as the low/no profit commodities they are only because Apple isn’t interested in flooding the world with more crap, just so they can claim to have flooded the world with the most crap. Apple exists to delight customers with transformational products that improve their lives. May they never deviate from the goal. The profits that come along with that are just gravy. And, oh, by the way:
Profit share trumps market share every damn time. – MacDailyNews Take, October 5, 2011
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Apple dominates mobile phone makers with 72% profit share worldwide in Q412 – February 6, 2013
comScore: Apple #1 smartphone maker in U.S. with 36.3% market share – February 6, 2013
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Great article! Great MDN take!
“Apple isn’t interested in flooding the world with more crap, just so they can claim to have flooded the world with the most crap.”
Agreed! Wall Street’s constant talk about market share is sickening. High market share is fine, but it’s not the only thing that matters.
No, but it does matter. I remember when Mac market share dipped to around 3% back in the 1990s and many people were wondering if Apple would still be around in a few years. Many software developers, even those who began as Mac developers, began focusing exclusively on Windows. Pro apps went to Windows NT. It wasn’t until the early 2000s and OS X before that trend was reversed, and quite a few apps never fully returned to the Mac platform in spirit (I place Adobe in that group).
In general, a company needs enough units to keep its ecosystem healthy. There are billions of potential customers in the mobile device arena, so you don’t necessarily have to have a dominant percentage of market share to be highly profitable. However, as Microsoft has shown, a dominant position can be used to drive (or twist) standards in ways that benefit the incumbent.
All things being equal, it is good to be the king!
“Apple exists to delight customers with transformational products that improve their lives.”
That was good.
Whereas many people like Rocco still don’t get it
“But, the point here is that Apple is not a market share company.”
No, that’s not the point Rocco; Apple has been saying that for years now. The point is, many people don’t understand that much less accept it.
AMEN!
Good counter-perspective to a lot of the fluff opinions like “is Apple the new Microsoft” and “Apple losing out to Android”.
As far as I’m concerned Android & Windows are like prostitutes that you can engage for a fee (in Android’s case you get a BJ thrown in for free), and after a few screws you realise that you’ve contracted AIDS or some debilitating life threatening disease that leads to your imminent demise, ala Dell, HP…and Samsung (probably in the next couple of years).
“… like prostitutes …”
Well, you’re obviously talking from experience here. . What a sexist, grubby little man you are.
I have one word for you: Fuck Off.
You also can’t seem to count
Is fucku one or two words?
That’s one word. What I meant really was for FO to be screamed loudly so as to compress the syllables together into a single word.
Meaningless drivel from theft boy.
Your pathetic expletive-ridden response proves my point. Anyway, you use the “f” word so much that it has no real meaning.
Might I suggest an enema or a quick wank to calm you down a little?
You are an annoying little twit. There, happy? I didn’t use your precious f word.
And under what stone did you crawl out of, twinky boy??
Ummm…He never mentioned gender. The sexism is in your mind.
Amen.
Why are you calling him sexist ? He (or it) didn’t specify the gender (or the species) of the prostitute(s).
You have a great untapped capacity to write of uplifting thoughts.
You are just encouraging him to keep up the good work.
Don Quixote comes to mind.
His struggle for relevance is admirable even thought his starting place is so low.
@Tom and @3313c7ro, you guys need to lighten up. Some of us haven’t outgrown our fratboy mentalities, but your progressive minds should be able to accept that others have different takes on subjects than you do. You don’t have to agree with him. I happen to agree with BLN and find his takes amusing. If you guys want proper and stuffy, troll the AARP blogs.
Ballmers Left Nut: keep at it. The kids can not take it.
Uncle Rat
🙂
Ass wipe!
The ONLY reason Android is popular as an OS is because it’s free to handset manufacturers who can’t possibly develop their own OS, or who at least don’t want to spend the money and resources and time to get it done.
Android handset makers are wholly dependent upon Google continuing to develop Android. Which it will do, but in whose best interest? The current Android market fragmentation is evidence of the problem, and it’s only growing as more variety of handsets, screen sizes, buttons, and other features get strapped on and pushed to the consumer.
Apple knows what t has with its OSes – long term powerhouse core software upon which fantastic hardware and other software innovations can be leveraged.
I really wish that there was another viable free OS. With the Motorola purchase, I think that most of the Google handset partners would jump if given the chance. At the very least, I think it is only a matter of time before Samsung replaces Android with a proprietary OS. That would immediately knock Android way down in marketshare.
Samsung has never demonstrated the capability to write usable software that wasn’t a direct rip off from Apple built on top of someone else’s OS. Doubt they could pull it off.
Why saddle themselves with development costs. they get the OS free. They can skin it any way they like. Their hardware runs it just fine.
there’s no point in making your own OS
Supposedly, Samsung is going with Tizen OS this year although I don’t know what percentage of their handsets are going to use it. Even Samsung would prefer to go Apple’s route, if possible, in order to get better control over the hardware/software experience. It might be enough to counter Wall Street’s beliefs that Android is the best OS in the world merely due to high growth rates.
Apple could really f-up things (for their competition) by dropping their profit margins to levels to near what the rest of the world runs at. Imagine the blood that would be spilled if Apple priced things only a few percentage point above ‘break even”!