Let me guess, another Apple hater.

And he is right. Most are probably being used as e-books, as you said, since 90% of tablet web traffic comes from the iPad. Not a convincing endorsement for getting an Android tablet.

I just feel like Android is a smarter OS, that's why it's winning out. Compare the changes Google have made to Android in just 5 years, then compare that to what Apple have changed in iOS in 6 years...apart from stealing the Android notification system and adding wallpaper support, they have changed nothing at all. The OS looks dated and old fashioned.

Android is thriving because it's so much more adaptable, it can suit the need of a massive range of devices. iOS not so much.

Apple do make decent hardware, but iOS is so lacking and behind, it says something when Microsoft have managed to become on par with it in just 3 years...Apple have not innovated for a while now. Apple Maps and Siri have been epic flops and lacklustre. Google actually designed something people would want to use with Google Now. Nobody needs Siri. Google just have a better vision and Android is just superior. The figures speak for themselves. If Android was rubbish, OEMs would be running to Windows Phone or creating their own alternatives, but they aren't.

Google keep on hiring the best to work on Android, the UI has improved ten-fold and it looks like they are about to change mobile multiplayer gaming very soon. There is just more potential in Android than iOS, and personally I think that has always been the case. The only issue with iOS is that Apple owns it.

People have been buying little Android tablets simply because they are cheap. The average user knows squat about OSs.

The same could be said about Apple users. In fact more so. Yet which OS is topping all the tables across the world?

You are acting like a 40% mark up on the hardware is particularly high. The golden markup figure is 70% as its there that you make a decent profit when all the additional costs have kicked in. At 40% the profit margins will be getting squeezed especially on units that are sold in other stores. After all with the 40% they have to pay the packaging and distribution costs for each unit, the sales tax has to be taken out and a few other variable costs. Then you have the contribution each unit has to make towards the fixed costs such as the OS development, the wages for those involved in developing/testing/selling the product and things like the utility bills.

40% will see them make a profit on the hardware but there isn't that much room to reduce the markup on the hardware costs and still make a profit. Most of the cheaper android tablets haven't reduced the margins but instead by reducing the costs (The basically free OS helps that a fair bit) which means finding cheaper components which often means older/slower.

What does that have to do with what I said in response to your previous remark???

You were saying it was deciding factor for Android tablet sales!

You are acting like being a walled garden is a bad thing when its actually more of a benefit than negative.

The majority of issues experienced in windows aren't actually issues with Windows but issues caused by software and drivers which they can't ensure compatibility and instead have to leave the OS fully open to the hardware manufacturers and software developers to make their products work.

MacOS on the other hand only has a handful of hardware configurations to support so they don't need to rely on 3rd parties to ensure hardware compatibility and as its a closed system it is then able to be more restrictive in what software can do. This results in a less frustrating user experience.

So on Windows you may get more freedom but you also get a more frustrating user experience and the same happens with Android and iOS. Android more freedom but a more frustrating user experience and iOS with less freedom but which is less frustrating

Apple had a dominant position on a smartphone and tablet market, because at the time there were no viable alternatives to compete with them. So they were able to overprice their products too. They may need to change their strategy now if they do not want be pushed into a niche position where they are now on computer market.

40% is (was) the net profit margin for Apple (after additional costs have kicked in), not the gross profit. (across all products)

The Vita, PS3 and xbox are likewise the same.

It is not a bad thing. You simply accept the limitations to enable purchase of 'designed for' premium content.
A lot of people want that experience but a still want a computing device without artificial boundaries. Its also near enough why netbooks with 'imposed boundaries' failed.

Supporting less costs a heck of lot less so I agree, frozen hardware development has benefits. A main one being that the advertising spend is massive. Think Coca Cola, that is all advertising spend, zero development.

I think there's no doubt apple brought the initial attention and innovation to the market and changed the face of how we listen to music. They also done likewise with apps via phone and tablet.

However they seem to have rested on their success somewhat and android has caught up and arguably surpassed this innovation. Apple once again need to find that killer route that nobody has thought of, else should really price themselves accordingly as what wont be a high end product if they aren't careful

That's the thing to me. A cheap iPhone may in fact need a shortage of supply to actually drum up demand.

The 'iPhone as an investment' sales line does not need the hindrance of oversupply.
And with 71% of app income supposedly coming from in-app purchases iPhones already do not fully have the look of 'high end'.

No its not the net profit margin so please cut out the lies. Apple themselves have never announced what the compete unit costs are so the only figures available on the costs are from those who breakdown the devices and investigate every component before making a estimate of the cost of the parts.

As all these reports clearly state its the gross profit margin meaning its only the margin on the hardware and doesn't account for the other costs

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The one that is generally available on a wider range of devices, made by a wider range of companies, at a wider range of price points.

But maybe it has nothing to do with any of that, and its because "Android is smarter".

The samsung Tab is also a fantastic product, though i have a Nexus 10.

It increases all the time as costs get ever smaller, just like the chips.
Though I'd suggest accountants concoct a net profit.

A budget iPhone could be made for $50 or even less as could a variation of that Mini.
It is only the very large scale production that actually makes those profit levels stand out.

Premium foods and cosmetics can be thousands of percent on paper profit in actual sale price versus production cost.

Yes economies of scale in increase the margins over time but that's the same for any product. However economies of scale are unlikely to be enough to take a product that made a 40% gross markup on the hardware and turn that into a 40% net markup in under a year.

And yes they could make a budget iPhone or iPad and sell it for $50 but not at the spec level of next iPhone and IPad and not even at the iPhone5 or iPad4 spec levels or even the Mini. As with every device at the budget price point to make that compromise either they would have to use it as a loss leader or would have to make comprimises in the spec to get it to that price point.

Admittedly Apple could do what Google are doing with Nexus devices and Amazon do with their whole Kindle range and sell the products at a hardware markup that will mean they will be lucky to see any profit on the hardware because despite not being a services company like Google and Amazon, Apple found itself being a services company as a byproduct of their hardware and successful at that. So they could do what Google/Amazon do and sell the hardware as a loss leader to drive sales on their services but a hardware companies never going to take that risk as they don't need to

What about samsung then? Makers of the Tab?

Using them to read books and play games is still using them! I don't think there are 'proper' uses for a tablet. If Apple fans don't approve of how people are using them and that it somehow makes it less of a tablet, that's up to them.

Anyway current figures say iOS 52% Android 43% BlackBerry 2% for web traffic using mobile devices.

Who the OP or DS tech news? Calling people a hater is a bit immature and I don't think the mods here approve. You might want to edit if you can!

I suspect with Samsung its a bit of both. The Tabs never been that impressive on the specification front. The Tab1 despite having the iPad price tag on launch was using the exact same hardware as the phone just in a bigger body and as such was significantly cheaper to build. And the latest tab 3 has a spec worse than the iPad Mini let alone the Nexus

The fact it provides the level of user experience that makes it competitive with the iPad and Nexus is a real achievement by Samsung.

I also suspect that as well as using lower speced and cheaper components there is also an element where the market share is perhaps more important to them than profit. If you look at all the big hardware firms like Samsung, LG, Sony etc they are all invested in the idea of all devices working in harmony so if you can get brand loyalty due to one product it will hopefully lead to sales of more expensive products with more profit that work alongside the tablet. Apple, Google and Amazon are unlikely to ever be so invested in that (Apple may release a TV and Apple/Google have tried the settop box but I doubt we will ever see them making Fridges, Washing Machines and the likes to form a complete interconnected home)

It's like with any market. There's a low end, middle and a high end, considering price and quality. The situation on smartphone and tablet market was unbalanced for quite a while, because it was just Apple, provididing a good quality for a high price. Now it's getting normal, a wide range of products and prices. Apple will have to decide if they are happy with losing their dominant position or if they want to change their strategy and create a cheaper range of products to compete with Samsungs and such.

I'm sure many actually enjoy the iTunes, IOS maps and the selected user experience but Apple still have their work cut out to improve on it.

That list of work rounds gets ever bigger.