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Apple has brand loyalty, and apparently, they earned it. In buying an Android handset, your options shift over time. Samsung has the most brand loyalty, and so

Apple has brand loyalty, and apparently, they earned it. In buying an Android handset, your options shift over time. Samsung has the most brand loyalty, and some high-end handsets, as well as some lower end ones. The rest of the brands seem to waffle between trying to be high-end, and being the best value. For example, OnePlus set out to be compete against the high-end with really low prices, but over time, the prices caught up to the competition. Google has made affordable Nexus handsets, moved towards high-end Pixels, but then backed off and started selling mainstream handsets. It's hard, as a consumer, to know what to replace your handset with when the time comes, because what was good might still not be good. And maybe a newer brand offers a better deal that sways you. While competition is mostly a good thing in the Android handset market, it also makes for some unpredictability, and few companies figure out where to position themselves, and maintain excellence.

mytailorisrich 5y ago
Huawei went after Apple, including on quality. They were shot down right when their sales overtook Apple's (maybe a coincidence, who knows...)
- handrous 5y ago
  Were they taking sales from Apple, to any major extent? Or just shifting around the Android market? If the latter, I can't imagine Apple'd care. Samsung's been doing the same thing (being the Apple of Android) for quite a while, and it hasn't mattered much.
  - dagw 5y ago
    Were they taking sales from Apple, to any major extent? I can't speak for China, but in Europe everybody I know who bought a Hauwei phone did so because they wanted a 'cheaper Samsung'.
- seanmcdirmid 5y ago
  Huawei and Apple have a similar market share profile in mainland China (Huawei sells more, Apple earns more) where government interference is lacking.
- humaniania 5y ago
  lol @ Huawei quality being anywhere close to Apple in hardware, software, or in ethical corporate operation. Maybe quality of marketing?
wpietri 5y ago
Isn't it pretty easy to to get a good phone? If people buy line A from brand B and are happy with it, I'd expect that 2-3 years later when they buy the latest A from B, they'd get a phone that's as good or better. I mention this because most people are satisficers, not maximizers. [1] They want a good phone, not the best phone. So I suspect that for most consumers, this isn't particularly a hard choice. They're going to buy the same one or ask a friend or see a review or get the one the phone store person recommends. The Android market is particularly hard for maximizers, though, because there are a bunch of companies working hard to have the best phone for a given niche. [1] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/201506/satisficing-vs-maximizing https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/20150...
- starky 5y ago
  >Isn't it pretty easy to to get a good phone? If people buy line A from brand B and are happy with it, I'd expect that 2-3 years later when they buy the latest A from B, they'd get a phone that's as good or better. I'd argue that there hasn't been a single phone released since the Galaxy S10 that is an improvement on that phone. Sure it might have better specifications on paper, but they are all worse products due to the features that all flagship phones have removed over time (removable storage, headphone jacks, going down to pentile 1080p screens to name a few). For my needs, the entire phone industry has turned to utter crap while prices have continued to climb to pay for ever more camera modules, increasing Qualcomm prices (with the same crappy upgrade support), and marketing costs.
  - wutbrodo 5y ago
    Dang, that's a bummer to hear. I used to do a pretty thorough dive into the whole market (including iPhones) every time I needed to switch phones, but just kept ending up buying the latest Galaxy S, sometimes by a hair. This got me from the original Galaxy S to my current S10e, but it sounds like you're saying that that approach may have tapped out

mytailorisrich 5y ago

Huawei went after Apple, including on quality. They were shot down right when their sales overtook Apple's (maybe a coincidence, who knows...)

handrous 5y ago
Were they taking sales from Apple, to any major extent? Or just shifting around the Android market? If the latter, I can't imagine Apple'd care. Samsung's been doing the same thing (being the Apple of Android) for quite a while, and it hasn't mattered much.
- dagw 5y ago
  Were they taking sales from Apple, to any major extent? I can't speak for China, but in Europe everybody I know who bought a Hauwei phone did so because they wanted a 'cheaper Samsung'.
seanmcdirmid 5y ago
Huawei and Apple have a similar market share profile in mainland China (Huawei sells more, Apple earns more) where government interference is lacking.
humaniania 5y ago
lol @ Huawei quality being anywhere close to Apple in hardware, software, or in ethical corporate operation. Maybe quality of marketing?

wpietri 5y ago

Isn't it pretty easy to to get a good phone? If people buy line A from brand B and are happy with it, I'd expect that 2-3 years later when they buy the latest A from B, they'd get a phone that's as good or better. I mention this because most people are satisficers, not maximizers. [1] They want a good phone, not the best phone. So I suspect that for most consumers, this isn't particularly a hard choice. They're going to buy the same one or ask a friend or see a review or get the one the phone store person recommends. The Android market is particularly hard for maximizers, though, because there are a bunch of companies working hard to have the best phone for a given niche. [1] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/201506/satisficing-vs-maximizing https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/20150...

starky 5y ago
>Isn't it pretty easy to to get a good phone? If people buy line A from brand B and are happy with it, I'd expect that 2-3 years later when they buy the latest A from B, they'd get a phone that's as good or better. I'd argue that there hasn't been a single phone released since the Galaxy S10 that is an improvement on that phone. Sure it might have better specifications on paper, but they are all worse products due to the features that all flagship phones have removed over time (removable storage, headphone jacks, going down to pentile 1080p screens to name a few). For my needs, the entire phone industry has turned to utter crap while prices have continued to climb to pay for ever more camera modules, increasing Qualcomm prices (with the same crappy upgrade support), and marketing costs.
- wutbrodo 5y ago
  Dang, that's a bummer to hear. I used to do a pretty thorough dive into the whole market (including iPhones) every time I needed to switch phones, but just kept ending up buying the latest Galaxy S, sometimes by a hair. This got me from the original Galaxy S to my current S10e, but it sounds like you're saying that that approach may have tapped out