6 ms·

It's true that iOS has a smaller share of the market globally, including many parts of Europe, but this overshadows the fact that iOS is almost on par with Andr

It's true that iOS has a smaller share of the market globally, including many parts of Europe, but this overshadows the fact that iOS is almost on par with Android in the United States (44.3% to Android's 54.5% as of May 2018), probably higher among affluent users, and the leading mobile operating system in other countries such as Britain: https://www.statista.com/statistics/266572/market-share-held-by-smartphone-platforms-in-the-united-states/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/266572/market-share-held... I feel this is often overlooked in discussions where users from certain areas where iOS is less prevalent don't understand the perspective of users from other regions where iOS is more popular.

bilbo0s 8y ago
>(44.3% to Android's 54.5% as of May 2018)... ??? Doesn't that mean iOS has the minority market share?
- delinka 8y ago
  A minority/majority distinction is unnecessary. If the market share is significant and can be shown to harm enough consumers (and especially if the behavior can be shown to harm even users of competitors' systems), then there still could be a decision in favor of consumers.
zepto 8y ago
10% lower than the next competitor, and less than half overall. Not a monopoly.
- jp555 8y ago
  But definitely an iOS monopoly.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    And Nintendo, Somy, and MS have monopoles on their stores. Just like if you don’t like what one console offers you are free to buy another one, if you don’t like what’s available for iOS, you are free to buy an Android.
    - tokyodude 8y ago
      4 wrongs don't make right. Nintendo, Sony, and MS should also not be allowed to have monopolies on their stores.
      - scarface74 8y ago
        And now we are redefining “monopoly”. This has been going on for 30 years. The console manufacturers have had lock out chips on their cartridges, specially made disk, etc forever.
        kd5bjo 8y ago
        Not forever. This all started with the death of Atari, which was commonly blamed on poor-quality 3rd-party games ruining their reputation with consumers. I haven't looked into the history enough to judge whether this perception is accurate in hindsight. Like most things, I expect it's a lot messier than the popular narrative.
        scarface74 8y ago
        As I said, “for over 30 years”. It started at least with the original Nintendo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIC_(Nintendo) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIC_(Nintendo)
    - jimktrains2 8y ago
      > Nintendo, Somy[sic], and MS You don't need to purchase games directly from Nintendo, nor music or games or video directly from Sony, nor are Sony Videos only playable on Sony devices, nor do you have to only install Microsoft "blessed" executable for Windows.
      - scarface74 8y ago
        No, but every game that you buy that runs on any of the consoles have been preapproved by the console manufacturers and each game has been cryptographically signed by the manufacturer - even those sold on disc. You don’t have to buy music from Apple. Music you buy hasn’t been wrapped with DRM for a decade. You can buy movies from Google, Amazon or Vudu, download the Movies Anywhere app, connect the app to your various accounts and they automatically show up as iTunes purchases (completely legally), there is an Amazon Video, Google Play, and Vudu app available for iOS. You can go to the Amazon store in your web browser and buy a digital video just like you can buy anything else from Amazon. We are talking about consoles. Just like the other console manufacturers, you can not sell a video game on disc that has not been approved by MS and without paying MS a licensing fee to run on the XBox.
  - zepto 8y ago
    No. Not an iOS monopoly either. Look up the definition of monopoly.
    - jp555 8y ago
      Apple is the only supplier of iOS devices. "A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly

bilbo0s 8y ago

>(44.3% to Android's 54.5% as of May 2018)... ??? Doesn't that mean iOS has the minority market share?

delinka 8y ago
A minority/majority distinction is unnecessary. If the market share is significant and can be shown to harm enough consumers (and especially if the behavior can be shown to harm even users of competitors' systems), then there still could be a decision in favor of consumers.

zepto 8y ago

10% lower than the next competitor, and less than half overall. Not a monopoly.

jp555 8y ago
But definitely an iOS monopoly.
- scarface74 8y ago
  And Nintendo, Somy, and MS have monopoles on their stores. Just like if you don’t like what one console offers you are free to buy another one, if you don’t like what’s available for iOS, you are free to buy an Android.
  - tokyodude 8y ago
    4 wrongs don't make right. Nintendo, Sony, and MS should also not be allowed to have monopolies on their stores.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      And now we are redefining “monopoly”. This has been going on for 30 years. The console manufacturers have had lock out chips on their cartridges, specially made disk, etc forever.
      - kd5bjo 8y ago
        Not forever. This all started with the death of Atari, which was commonly blamed on poor-quality 3rd-party games ruining their reputation with consumers. I haven't looked into the history enough to judge whether this perception is accurate in hindsight. Like most things, I expect it's a lot messier than the popular narrative.
        scarface74 8y ago
        As I said, “for over 30 years”. It started at least with the original Nintendo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIC_(Nintendo) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIC_(Nintendo)
  - jimktrains2 8y ago
    > Nintendo, Somy[sic], and MS You don't need to purchase games directly from Nintendo, nor music or games or video directly from Sony, nor are Sony Videos only playable on Sony devices, nor do you have to only install Microsoft "blessed" executable for Windows.
    - scarface74 8y ago
      No, but every game that you buy that runs on any of the consoles have been preapproved by the console manufacturers and each game has been cryptographically signed by the manufacturer - even those sold on disc. You don’t have to buy music from Apple. Music you buy hasn’t been wrapped with DRM for a decade. You can buy movies from Google, Amazon or Vudu, download the Movies Anywhere app, connect the app to your various accounts and they automatically show up as iTunes purchases (completely legally), there is an Amazon Video, Google Play, and Vudu app available for iOS. You can go to the Amazon store in your web browser and buy a digital video just like you can buy anything else from Amazon. We are talking about consoles. Just like the other console manufacturers, you can not sell a video game on disc that has not been approved by MS and without paying MS a licensing fee to run on the XBox.
- zepto 8y ago
  No. Not an iOS monopoly either. Look up the definition of monopoly.
  - jp555 8y ago
    Apple is the only supplier of iOS devices. "A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly