4 ms·

> How is iMessage a monopoly? I would like open communications standards as much as the next guy, but next to iMessage there are WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, WeC

> How is iMessage a monopoly? I would like open communications standards as much as the next guy, but next to iMessage there are WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, WeChat, Facebook Messenger etc. etc. Because it's the replacement for SMS for Apple phones and doesn't require an account in the same way those other services do. It just uses the Apple account iPhone owners already need to have.

frumper 3y ago
You don't actually need an account to use an iPhone. You can also use SMS without iMessage.
- PrimeMcFly 3y ago
  > You don't actually need an account to use an iPhone. Really? It's never insisted upon for any core service? > You can also use SMS without iMessage. But most people don't because it's the default. MS was found to have a monopoly with IE even though there were alternatives.
  - joshmanders 3y ago
    > But most people don't because it's the default. MS was found to have a monopoly with IE even though there were alternatives. Windows also was the dominant operating system with a market share in the 90% or higher. iOS isn't even the market leader in the US let alone the world, so can't really be a monopoly now can it?
    - PrimeMcFly 3y ago
      > iOS isn't even the market leader in the US How can that not be true if most people in the US use an iPhone as their phone?
      - joshmanders 3y ago
        iPhone and Samsung combined make up almost 80% of smart phone market share in the US. Being as Statistia is a premium thing I can't get accurate numbers, but lets say splitting 50/50 because if it was anything with any serious gap, they wouldn't group them the same. I'd assume they're high 40's and low 50's split between the two, so means iPhone is ~40%, now I ain't no math magician or anything but that leaves ~60% for non-iPhone devices.
        PrimeMcFly 3y ago
        In plenty of other threads I've seen people bring up that in the US most phones are iPhones, they are the most popular choice by far. I can't remember where they sourced the info from and not about to research it myself though, at least not at the moment.
        joshmanders 3y ago
        So you just believe what others say without actually looking up sources? Got it.
        erinnh 3y ago
        This has Apple at over 50%: https://www.counterpointresearch.com/insights/us-smartphone-market-share/ https://www.counterpointresearch.com/insights/us-smartphone-... This does as well: https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/us-smartphone-market-share https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/us-smartphone-market-share I would’ve been highly surprised if Samsung and Apple were head-to-head in the USA.
        joshmanders 3y ago
        Even at those numbers I wouldn't consider it market dominance. Barely being the leader.
        3y ago
    - dwallin 3y ago
      54% of the US market makes them a pretty clear market leader. 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...
  - averageRoyalty 3y ago
    > Really? It's never insisted upon for any core service? You might need to qualify "core service" here, but no. Calls, SMS, MMS, internet all work fine without an account. You need an account to download apps from the app store, but that's a different argument. If you wanted to, there are various methods to load apps up without an account too (side loading via Xcode, MDM, etc).

frumper 3y ago

You don't actually need an account to use an iPhone. You can also use SMS without iMessage.

PrimeMcFly 3y ago
> You don't actually need an account to use an iPhone. Really? It's never insisted upon for any core service? > You can also use SMS without iMessage. But most people don't because it's the default. MS was found to have a monopoly with IE even though there were alternatives.
- joshmanders 3y ago
  > But most people don't because it's the default. MS was found to have a monopoly with IE even though there were alternatives. Windows also was the dominant operating system with a market share in the 90% or higher. iOS isn't even the market leader in the US let alone the world, so can't really be a monopoly now can it?
  - PrimeMcFly 3y ago
    > iOS isn't even the market leader in the US How can that not be true if most people in the US use an iPhone as their phone?
    - joshmanders 3y ago
      iPhone and Samsung combined make up almost 80% of smart phone market share in the US. Being as Statistia is a premium thing I can't get accurate numbers, but lets say splitting 50/50 because if it was anything with any serious gap, they wouldn't group them the same. I'd assume they're high 40's and low 50's split between the two, so means iPhone is ~40%, now I ain't no math magician or anything but that leaves ~60% for non-iPhone devices.
      - PrimeMcFly 3y ago
        In plenty of other threads I've seen people bring up that in the US most phones are iPhones, they are the most popular choice by far. I can't remember where they sourced the info from and not about to research it myself though, at least not at the moment.
        joshmanders 3y ago
        So you just believe what others say without actually looking up sources? Got it.
        erinnh 3y ago
        This has Apple at over 50%: https://www.counterpointresearch.com/insights/us-smartphone-market-share/ https://www.counterpointresearch.com/insights/us-smartphone-... This does as well: https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/us-smartphone-market-share https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/us-smartphone-market-share I would’ve been highly surprised if Samsung and Apple were head-to-head in the USA.
        joshmanders 3y ago
        Even at those numbers I wouldn't consider it market dominance. Barely being the leader.
        3y ago
  - dwallin 3y ago
    54% of the US market makes them a pretty clear market leader. 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...
- averageRoyalty 3y ago
  > Really? It's never insisted upon for any core service? You might need to qualify "core service" here, but no. Calls, SMS, MMS, internet all work fine without an account. You need an account to download apps from the app store, but that's a different argument. If you wanted to, there are various methods to load apps up without an account too (side loading via Xcode, MDM, etc).