“These numbers could lead rational human beings to believe Google’s Android operating system dominates Apple’s iOS. All else equal, that’s the only conclusion you could draw from 79.6% to 84.7% and 13.0% to 11.7%. A butt-whipping of epic proportion,” Rocco Pendola writes for TheStreet. “But — and this ought to be the mantra of not only tech but so many of life’s conundrums — all things are not equal. We’re not dealing with a straightforward this versus that, either/or proposition.”
“Apple has no problem seeing Google dominate global marketshare numbers via Android. All Apple cares about is making its margin on hardware sales and producing the highest quality, highest-end smartphones available anywhere,” Pendola writes. “That’s why — even with the 5c — there is no ‘low-end’ iPhone. That would defeat the purpose of Apple’s superior strategy from the practical standpoint of its bottom line and its relationship with the consumer.”
“Two types of customers will matter to Apple when it releases iPhone 6 later this year. The massive numbers of folks due for upgrades from iPhones 4, 4s and 5,” Pendola writes. “That, in and of itself, represents a landslide. But the second group of consumers really highlights the brilliance of Apple’s strategy. This second group consists of the folks who could afford an iPhone but opted not to get one because they could not get past the relatively small screen size and those who told themselves it made financial sense to go with something less expensive than an iPhone.”
Much more in the full article – recommended (gulp!) – here.
MacDailyNews Take: As our own SteveJack put it so eloquently back on October 23, 2012
Newsflash: Apple sells premium products at premium prices to premium customers.
Related article:
Digging in on the Church of Market Share – May 25, 2013
Apple and the market share myth – April 16, 2014
Why Android’s ’80 percent market share’ might only represent half of all smartphone users – January 10, 2014
Android users poorer, shorter, unhealthier, less educated, far less charitable than Apple iPhone users – November 13, 2013
Apple will continue to ignore Android market share stats all the way to the bank – October 29, 2013
Why market share doesn’t matter to Apple – October 21, 2013
Digging in on the Church of Market Share – May 25, 2013
The Church of Market Share revisited – April 26, 2013
Newsflash: Apple sells premium products at premium prices to premium customers – October 23, 2012
I’ll take that, even with the “GULP” disclaimer!
“Premium customers”; indeed the right tack for a superior product.
Your headlines are some of the best. Do you write them?
Not only that, by not being a monopoly Appke has much more freedom to ripen rptheir business.
Cue the MDN fanboys who don’t believe that there is a second group of phone buyers and who insist on condemning every bit of kit without an Apple symbol in 3 …2 …1 …
Yes, indeed I just slagged off a Samdung employee at BestBuy who was trying to convince me to buy a Samdung ripoff. I told her what a despicable company Samdung was and everything they had was was ripped off from Apple. I would never buy a Samdung device….including TV’s, Washer/Dryer or Dishwasher.
She was not pleased.
Paul are you having a dual personality issue here? reminds me of Samsung actually we love copying Apple stuff but hate the original for being first.
To be fair though Paul every company has its fan boys.
That being said companies like Samsung who blatantly copy Apple deserve the ass kicking they get ;-).
Not forgetting Google who’s only interest is harvesting its users (sheep) data to sell to advertisers. But Android was a blatant copy of Blackberry till Apple released the first iPhone so Google copied the iPhone instead. Google has been copying Apple ever since.
So you see every company has its fan boys.
Owning only 11.7-13% (if these numbers are even accurate) just means there’s more room for growth in the future.
Wrong-Note Rocco is still on his pro-Apple kick? Enjoy it while it lasts, folks! Won’t be long before he switches his tune and is idiotically calling for Mr. Cook’s dismissal again or something equally shortsighted.
You are all nuts as you celebrate propaganda the likes we have never seen before before!
Well since yesterday from Samsung anyway. And every day before and after no doubt.
Hahahaha, “Android-crushing”, living in your own world MDN.
Show me the money. Oh wait, you can’t. Apple is raking most of it in.
Enjoy your market share.
Android crushing is going a too far. Unless the 5.5″ comes out and it is optimized for the larger screen then it may be competing. However with 4.7″ with too small a battery to keep it thin it will not be near. The features that it is borrowing from Android in IOS 8 and Android apps will bring it closer but not enough to be on par with current flagship Android phones. It will sell well and make good profits for Apple but not be the No. 1 smartphone which for me will be disappointing after a long wait for a bigger iPhone.
Now that should be iCaled as I don’t see any likely sign that it won’t be the number 1 phone just as the present and past generations have been. Indeed I suspect that it is probably going to exceed those previous models. At the end of the day mostly useless and badly incorporated features can make a phone worse not better as Android has ably shown us. At best they are simply ignored and to the discerning buyer certainly don’t make that phone actually better.
Mind you I can’t help remembering MDN always going on about the iPhone not being like the Mac blah, blah, blah which funny enough it is increasingly looking like in terms of market share (a few iCals they won’t be dusting off any time soon). No bad place as it happens mind, considering the relative profit figures, though just a little sad it could not have retained around 20% to give it greater flexibility/scope in associated markets that can be tied into it and to give better control of various technologies it/others may wish to introduce.