3 ms·

Great post that's basically a healthy dose of reality and commonsense. A lot of those predicting Apple's doom (or simply decline) or a repeat of the OS wars ar

by cletus 16y ago

Great post that's basically a healthy dose of reality and commonsense. A lot of those predicting Apple's doom (or simply decline) or a repeat of the OS wars are ignoring the power of Apple's supply chain. As Gruber puts it: if Android can make a great $100 handset why can't Apple? The point about the cost of service contracts is worth repeating: the difference between an iPhone 4 or a free handset is about 10% of the total cost so price of the isn't all that important. You see the power of Apple supply chain with the iPad. Apple (IMHO) had no real inkling of just how big it was going to be, just like they didn't know wit the original iPhone. Now volume is more of a known quantity Apple has a lot more room to increase specs and/or lower price with the anticated revision. The Samsung Galaxy Tab (so far the most credible competitor) offers a screen half the size at a $600 price point. That's the power of Apple's supply chain.

seabee 16y ago
It might be only 10% in the US, but it's significantly more than that in other countries. In the UK, getting an iPhone 4 on a £25/mo 2 year contract from any of the 5 major carriers costs you £200-300, and gets you 100 minutes max and 500mb of data (some networks are more generous with the data). In the end I got an HTC Desire HD, still £280 up-front, but £10 less a month (£240 less), 300 minutes, 'unlimited internet' (3GB). It was 70% of the TCO. Even on the higher end (£40+), iPhone contracts offer significantly less of everything per month than Android or Blackberry phones they give you for free. I don't know who's setting the prices, Apple or the carriers, but as Android keeps getting better I expect something interesting to happen over the next year or so. However I expect nothing interesting to happen in the tablet sector when you can get a clearly-superior iPad for £30 more than Samsung's offering.
- wazoox 16y ago
  Android phones are starting to appear nearly free, but everybody (really everybody) seems to be carrying an iPhone nowadays. People don't even use it for anything but for phone and SMS; but that tells a lot about how strong it is as a phone brand now.
  - seabee 16y ago
    Despite knowing only two people with iPhones (brother and flatmate) and nearly a dozen with other smartphones, it still amazes me how 95% of the phones I see on the Tube are iPhones. London is more affluent than the rest of the country, however.

by cletus 16y ago

seabee 16y ago

It might be only 10% in the US, but it's significantly more than that in other countries. In the UK, getting an iPhone 4 on a £25/mo 2 year contract from any of the 5 major carriers costs you £200-300, and gets you 100 minutes max and 500mb of data (some networks are more generous with the data). In the end I got an HTC Desire HD, still £280 up-front, but £10 less a month (£240 less), 300 minutes, 'unlimited internet' (3GB). It was 70% of the TCO. Even on the higher end (£40+), iPhone contracts offer significantly less of everything per month than Android or Blackberry phones they give you for free. I don't know who's setting the prices, Apple or the carriers, but as Android keeps getting better I expect something interesting to happen over the next year or so. However I expect nothing interesting to happen in the tablet sector when you can get a clearly-superior iPad for £30 more than Samsung's offering.

wazoox 16y ago
Android phones are starting to appear nearly free, but everybody (really everybody) seems to be carrying an iPhone nowadays. People don't even use it for anything but for phone and SMS; but that tells a lot about how strong it is as a phone brand now.
- seabee 16y ago
  Despite knowing only two people with iPhones (brother and flatmate) and nearly a dozen with other smartphones, it still amazes me how 95% of the phones I see on the Tube are iPhones. London is more affluent than the rest of the country, however.