http://www.t3.com/news/android-tops-...t-market-share

Although ..


Wonder how, or if, Apple will respond ?

They will put their prices up in a last ditch attempt to give their customers even more bragging rights that their iPhone cost more than double than double the best Android phone on the market.

Apple have no need to go after the highest market share. They are interested in the higher end of the market where more profit can be made from less sales.

Apple = high end prices with mid range devices. A superb business model.

I thinks this article is quite interesting. It suggests that Apple's market share in general mobile phone sales is increasing.

The issue with isolating smart phone sales is that a there are now a lot of cheaper smart phones so there are plenty of people who are buying a cheap phone which happens to be running Android. They probably aren't even aware that it would be classed as a smartphone or even realise it runs Android.

Why is that an issue? If it's market share we are talking about it does not matter if the consumer knows what they have or not.

Isn't Android market share totally irrelevant though, as it is on most devices.

Wouldn't it be more interesting to see how the companies stack up against each other, so Samsung v Iphone v HTC v Nokia v LG or even how they compare against Google's Phone.

This report was market share based on operating system, there are similar reports for marketshare based on company. Nothing new, but doesn't cause anywhere near as many petty arguments as this one does

As I've said elsewhere, it's followed the Mac/PC thing. Apple will stubbornly anchor themselves in the perceived 'elite' market having seen competitors overtake them. It nearly killed the company prior to the iMac and, more notably, iPod, so it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

I've no real qualms over the hardware (apart from size) but I really think iOS is running in treacle in terms of evolution when compared to Android. Now that smartphones and tablets are truly mass market, value for money is also a key factor and Apple won't ever seemingly do a low-to-mid range device. That's fair enough but as Android saturates the market it will catch the eye of more and more Apple owners who want a bit more control and flexibility. Not all Apple owners see that logo as status symbol any longer and Apple should be mindful of that.

Apple will probably wander off and design a stand-out device in another sector of the consumer electronics market and market it like a dream to great initial acclaim. That's what they do. They'd better hope so, at least.

All It tells you that Android is the standard smartphone mobile operating system these days apart from Apple devices, but we already knew this.

The market share per manufacturer is I think is more interesting. What will be more interesting is if Samsung's known desire to get their own eco system going and get out of the Google space will gather any traction if they feel strong enough to do it.

That's not how it happened in the Mac vs PC war, so I'm not holding my breath. The OS is key. If making Android apps reaches a point where it becomes much more cost effective and lucrative than iOS then development will stall and iOS will become a niche market and therefore more vulnerable.

The key here is how HTC and Sony do in the future. Samsung is a bit too powerful within the Android ecosystem (which Google dislikes), and Motorola will never go bust again with Google's endless money supply behind them.

If HTC's situation gets any worse, Microsoft could swoop in and potentially acquire them which would be a huge blow for Google. It would show that Android doesn't always guarantee success, though HTC have not been making the right decisions for a while now.

Sony are doing decently at the moment, but not the best. LG and Huawei seem to be the biggest growers in the Android ecosystem. But if HTC goes to Microsoft, Google will have lost a huge strategic advantage as HTC don't currently seem to care about Windows Phone, and neither does Samsung.

Unless of course Google acquires HTC to go along with Motorola, which may be in their plan.

Google's issue is no longer getting to the top, as Android has more than accomplished that. Their aim is maintaining their position, which they seem to be doing by migrating all of Android's key features to closed source models so that they have more control.

But these analysts do seem to live on another planet. iPhone releases have not stopped Android growth in the past and I don't think they will in the future. Apple is on the wane at the moment. Even at their height of popularity 2 or 3 years ago, their launches could only temporarily stall Android growth.

Google will no doubt be watching the market very closely. HTC is one to watch as they seem to be getting unstable and could turn the tables either way if they go down and are acquired. Samsung are also ones to watch as they seem to be trying to reduce their dependence on Google and Android. LG, Sony and Huawei seem happy enough with Android for now, but I don't think the smartphone war is totally over yet. Google has won for now, but I don't think it will be plain sailing for them in the future.

This for me is the most interesting thing - if Samsung are happy to stay with Android or if they will push Tizen next year and try to create a new mobile OS.

If Apple didn't sell a single phone for a few decades they would still be rolling in cash

Apple's solution to any competition is simple. Sue them

There was never any real Mac v PC war the PC won the war before the battle even began. the Mac was always a niche product. If it hadn't have been taken up by graphic design and Desktop publishing I don't think it would have survived.

You can't say that of the iOS devices which are very well established and the key is that they have a very strong eco system which at this moment shows no sign of getting any weaker.

The other thing that is happening is the trend of bespoke mobile application development for enterprise systems a lot of which run on iPads and similar.

Perhaps then it would be more interesting looking at the battle between IOS & Windows in Market share, and see how that goes, as we all know Android is way ahead and doesn't need to be really mentioned.

Google are much stronger than Samsung imo, Samsung phones have risen on the back of Android and not the other way around.

It would be a major mistake for Samsung to do this. I always think the software is way more important than the hardware and if Samsung for any reason decided to ditch Android then all I could see happening would be another of the hardware manufactures taking up the slack and Tizen becoming a huge failure.

Samsung launched their own developer conference this year, with the intent of encouraging developers to develop "Samsung exclusive" apps.

Tizen is not ready for the market, and I don't think it ever will be personally. I don't think Tizen as a platform will do anything for Samsung, they are just testing the waters for now.

But the warning signs are there that they definitely are looking to a future away from Android when it becomes possible for them. They have obviously fallen out of favour with Google as well, the Nexus 10 was taken away from them and given to Asus. But Google are not stupid, they know that Samsung is still very dependent on them, and I think they will try to increase that dependence through software. Samsung can't fork their own build of Android as they are in a binding agreement with Google not to use any version/fork of Android on their devices.

Samsung are trying to create their own versions of Google's services, but it could come to a point where Google could issue an ultimatum where they threaten to take away Play Store access on Samsung devices if they keep developing their own apps. Especially if Samsung continues at the current rate, Google may want to "tame the beast" so to speak.

As I said the software giant has more power than the hardware, as the hardware can be easily switched over.

PC's used to be called IBM PC's but look at what happened when they tried to ditch Microsoft and go with OS2 Warp.

Fascinating stuff, any other convenient contradictions you want to share

You've totally missed the point. Samsung are trying to make a name for themselves in the software market. They now even have their own developer conference. They don't see themselves as just a hardware manufacturer, and I don't either. Looking at the bigger picture, it's clear what they are trying to do.

Yes but at the end of the day they still run on on the Android platform.

As powerful as Samsung are in the Android world the agenda of Android is run by Google and not Samsung.

I can't see developers wanting to write Samsung specific apps anytime soon and I think it's just too late in the day for them to be moving to a propriety OS.