“The unofficial theme at this year’s Mobile World Congress show was: Everybody attack Apple, Samsung and Google,” Mike Elgan writes for Computerworld. “The reason is obvious: These three companies dominate the smartphone industry with a shocking totality.”
“Apple and Samsung together account for 103% of all smartphone handset profits. (The percentage exceeded 100% because of the way losses are accounted for),” Elgan writes. “The rest of the industry is fed up with watching Apple, Samsung and Google run away with all the money. Now they’re fighting back.”
Elgan writes, “Apple didn’t have a booth, yet had a presence at MWC not unlike Lord Voldemort’s in the Harry Potter series — the scary, powerful entity that must not be named. A general mob scene at the HTC booth involved long lines forming behind the dozens of tethered demo units of the recently announced HTC One phone. Many people were snapping pictures of the HTC One with their iPhones.”
“Devices running Android were everywhere at the show,” Elgan writes. “But there’s trouble in paradise, and this was plain to see at MWC. The problem: The marginalization and commoditization of mobile operating systems in general and Android in particular… In general, the custom-built user interfaces created by handset makers are taking the experience further away from the Android experience and the Google revenue model… upstart mobile platforms won’t come at Android on the high end of the market, but on the low end, where apps are far less important.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We hear the same thing every year.
That said, this year might be the year for one thing: Android’s decline.
It’s much easier to attack Google (Android) successfully at the low end than it is for anyone to attack Apple at the high end. In general, high-end buyers tend to be better informed than the average handset buyer and these customers understand the value of Apple’s superior industrial design, software+hardware symbiosis, and their unmatched ecosystems (App Store, iTunes Store, iCloud, third-party “Made for iPhone” accessories, widespread vehicle integration, etcetera). These customers aren’t going to be trading down; Apple has too many advantages that are not easily replicated.