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Say what you wish about the fractured Android ecosystem, but it managed to get >84% of the market-share vs <12% for iOS, despite having arrived later and being

Say what you wish about the fractured Android ecosystem, but it managed to get >84% of the market-share vs <12% for iOS, despite having arrived later and being (at least in its earlier incarnations, before Android 4.x) a much less polished product. Samsung alone has more users than Apple does. Spreading their innovation around to partners was a killer move from Google the same as selling their software to IBM clones was a killer move for Microsoft. Note: Not arguing that Apple's strategy was unsuccessful in the least, but Google wouldn't have been able to beat Apple at their own game (integrated hardware-software luxury-branded product) at the time of the iPhone/Android release.

ams6110 12y ago
Android phones are cheaper than iPhones. That's all it is.
- untog 12y ago
  So? It doesn't matter how simple it was; it worked.
- threeseed 12y ago
  And the larger sized screens really made a difference to the market. It's amazing to see Samsung in so much trouble now that Apple has released the iPhone 6/6+. They have lost a staggering amount of profit in only a few months.
  - higherpurpose 12y ago
    Check your dates. Samsung started losing much of its profit before the iPhone 6 came out. It lost 66 percent of its profit year over year in the summer quarter (Apple's weakest quarter, in fact). Samsung may have lost some market share and profits when the iPohne 6 was launched, but it really started bleeding when it stopped any pretense at innovation, and it just kept iterating on the ugly design of Galaxy S3 and the bloatmess of Touchwizz. Galaxy S5 was considered a failure. Because of that Samsung intends to "rebuilt everything from scratch" with Galaxy S6. It's not because of the iPhone 6.
    - threeseed 12y ago
      I've checked the dates. Samsung recently posted their biggest loss in operating profit since 2009. Which unsurprisingly coincided with record sales and market share growth by Apple.
      - higherpurpose 12y ago
        I didn't say they didn't lose MORE when Apple launched the iPhone 6. I said Samsung was already on a FAST DECLINE in profits since EARLY THIS YEAR.
- lazaroclapp 12y ago
  Part of the reason why they are cheaper is that they are made by many manufacturers with experience in large scale electronics production who compete strongly on price for most of their product lines. If Google had decided to launch Android by themselves with the electronics production capabilities they had at the time, it would have been priced like Google Glass. If they had partnered with a single manufacturer, it would still have been vastly more expensive than what they did. Not that there aren't other important factors for Android's success, as even relatively expensive Android phones are quite competitive with iPhones in market-share. But even if you assume it is just price, that is an argument in favor of the multi-vendor strategy, not against.
  - Bjartr 12y ago
    >it would have been priced like Google Glass. Glass was purposely priced out of the range of consumers. It was meant as an experimental platform only.
    - lazaroclapp 12y ago
      Sure, I know I am being hyperbolic. Still, it would have been priced higher than relative high end Android phones, have worse specs than mid-level phones and be perhaps better only in consistency and software-hardware integration (did I just accidentally describe the Nexus line?). It would not have beaten Apple at its own game and without a larger market-share and more friendly developer terms, it would not have had enough apps to achieve critical mass (and now I seem to be describing the Windows Phone...).
- shk 12y ago
  I am glad it is. Millions of people are able to get the benefits of smartphones because of that. If Google can bring auto-driving cars to the whole world with lower cost then I will again gladly welcome it. However, that's still a decade away really.
rnovak 12y ago
iOS has a 42.5% market share[1], where are you getting your info from? [1]https://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8&qpcustomd=1 https://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share...
- mbrubeck 12y ago
  That's their share of mobile web browsing. It measures usage, while the other numbers here are measuring share of unit sales. There's always been a big disparity between the market share and web usage share of Android vs. iOS: http://blog.cloudfour.com/explaining-the-ios-and-android-mobile-disparity/ http://blog.cloudfour.com/explaining-the-ios-and-android-mob... See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems#Mobile_devices https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_syste...
  - bentcorner 12y ago
    Google (probably) knows the answer to this question. How many people completely miss the WiFi connection prompt? You could mix in data from browsers (how many people browse near a wifi point that they have connected to with their browser, but don't connect with their wifi? how many people browse in the evening/morning but not connected to wifi?) There's probably a wealth of demographic data they could correlate through gmail content and/or chrome browsing trends to correlate user income level, although I don't know if Google has privacy controls in place that makes sharing this data between divisions possible.
    - puranjay 12y ago
      Smartphones are the first computing experience for a lot of people. My mom, 64, had never used any sort of computing device before I got her an Android smartphone. She doesn't even know what a browser is. The only thing she knows is how to use WhatsApp and order things off a shopping app I installed for her. To her, that's the "internet". And she is perfectly happy with that.
- testrun 12y ago
thejosh 12y ago
Lol, 84% in what countries? Looking at our web stats across our clients, android isn't even a drop in the bucket compared to iOS. Having a large market share in third world countries who won't buy your app isn't much of a win.
- foreign-inc 12y ago
  Having a large market share in third world countries who won't buy your app isn't much of a win. >> ask Whatsapp. :)
  - striking 12y ago
    Whatsapp is really a special case, though. They cornered a market that's relatively unique. Third-world countries don't need another messaging app.
    - stingraycharles 12y ago
      And from my experience here in Cambodia, everyone is using Facebook anyway. So it isn't a clear black and white "third world countries only use whatsapp" either. Also, there is a severe desire of everyone to buy an iPhone -- so they just lag behind a lot. You can buy a pre-jailbroken iPhone 4G for around $100 here.
  - baddox 12y ago
    If Whatsapp lost, sign me up for losing.
- rdtsc 12y ago
  > Having a large market share in third world countries who won't buy your app isn't much of a win Pretty sure the large market share in third world countries also doesn't care about your win either. They just have Android phones. Not sure if it is Google's win, users' win or OEM's that make the hardware's win. Kind of a mix perhaps.
puranjay 12y ago
It's because of the cost, nothing else. Everyone I know would switch to iPhone in a heartbeat if they had the Rs. 60k you need in India to buy one. My Android phone, on the other hand, cost me Rs. 13k. Android thrived because shelling out a month's salary on phones is a losing proposition in third world countries (which have the majority of phone uses)
- xorcist 12y ago
  Price is just as important in the first world countries. Not everyone wants to spend almost $1k USD on a phone, which is something you might drop and break. When there are Android phones on offer with equal or better specifications and a lower price, most people will pick that one.
- rednukleus 12y ago
  This is just not true. Android manufacturers sell huge numbers of high end phones that cost the same amount as iPhones. I have owned both, and found the Android to be a much better user experience. iPhone has the worst keyboard I've ever used, the screen on the 5 was way too small, and I just find the whole UI to be really clunky and badly designed for the way I use devices (eg. The lack of a back button and inconsistent way apps try to deal with this limitation) Sure, plenty of people like iPhones and plenty of people would swap, but I know a lot of people who really don't like iOS and are far happier with a high end android
  - avinassh 12y ago
    > This is just not true. Android manufacturers sell huge numbers of high end phones that cost the same amount as iPhones. But not in India, a third world country, as OP makes the point. Majority of Android budget range here is ₹5000 ($90) to ₹15000 (~$300). Where as an iPhone costs ₹53,500.
    - rednukleus 12y ago
      My point is that there are probably plenty of Indians who, if they had 53,000 to spend on a phone, would choose a high end Android. Some iPhone fans try to make the argument that "everyone who could afford it would buy an iPhone", and that is just not true as evidenced by the large number of high end Androids which are sold. Some people just don't like iOS.
bsbechtel 12y ago
84% market share is a loss if you don't make any money on your product.
- GotAnyMegadeth 12y ago
  Well you are still potentially stopping your competitors from making money on their product.
  - bsbechtel 12y ago
    That's certainly true, although I don't think Apple is struggling in the revenue department these days. To be fair, Android has contributed to Google's core business by massively expanding the reach of their search ads...or so the story goes.
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  > 84% market share is a loss if you don't make any money on your product. Its a win if it is preventing a competitor from getting the kind of dominance in a market that is key to delivery of a product on which you do make money (like, in Google's case, mobile platforms are to online advertising) that they could use to extract rents that would cut into those profits. Chrome and Android don't need to make money directly to be successful, they just need to be popular enough that other browser or mobile OS vendors can't use their position to cut off Google's advertising revenues.

ams6110 12y ago

Android phones are cheaper than iPhones. That's all it is.

untog 12y ago
So? It doesn't matter how simple it was; it worked.
threeseed 12y ago
And the larger sized screens really made a difference to the market. It's amazing to see Samsung in so much trouble now that Apple has released the iPhone 6/6+. They have lost a staggering amount of profit in only a few months.
- higherpurpose 12y ago
  Check your dates. Samsung started losing much of its profit before the iPhone 6 came out. It lost 66 percent of its profit year over year in the summer quarter (Apple's weakest quarter, in fact). Samsung may have lost some market share and profits when the iPohne 6 was launched, but it really started bleeding when it stopped any pretense at innovation, and it just kept iterating on the ugly design of Galaxy S3 and the bloatmess of Touchwizz. Galaxy S5 was considered a failure. Because of that Samsung intends to "rebuilt everything from scratch" with Galaxy S6. It's not because of the iPhone 6.
  - threeseed 12y ago
    I've checked the dates. Samsung recently posted their biggest loss in operating profit since 2009. Which unsurprisingly coincided with record sales and market share growth by Apple.
    - higherpurpose 12y ago
      I didn't say they didn't lose MORE when Apple launched the iPhone 6. I said Samsung was already on a FAST DECLINE in profits since EARLY THIS YEAR.
lazaroclapp 12y ago
Part of the reason why they are cheaper is that they are made by many manufacturers with experience in large scale electronics production who compete strongly on price for most of their product lines. If Google had decided to launch Android by themselves with the electronics production capabilities they had at the time, it would have been priced like Google Glass. If they had partnered with a single manufacturer, it would still have been vastly more expensive than what they did. Not that there aren't other important factors for Android's success, as even relatively expensive Android phones are quite competitive with iPhones in market-share. But even if you assume it is just price, that is an argument in favor of the multi-vendor strategy, not against.
- Bjartr 12y ago
  >it would have been priced like Google Glass. Glass was purposely priced out of the range of consumers. It was meant as an experimental platform only.
  - lazaroclapp 12y ago
    Sure, I know I am being hyperbolic. Still, it would have been priced higher than relative high end Android phones, have worse specs than mid-level phones and be perhaps better only in consistency and software-hardware integration (did I just accidentally describe the Nexus line?). It would not have beaten Apple at its own game and without a larger market-share and more friendly developer terms, it would not have had enough apps to achieve critical mass (and now I seem to be describing the Windows Phone...).
shk 12y ago
I am glad it is. Millions of people are able to get the benefits of smartphones because of that. If Google can bring auto-driving cars to the whole world with lower cost then I will again gladly welcome it. However, that's still a decade away really.

rnovak 12y ago

iOS has a 42.5% market share[1], where are you getting your info from? [1]https://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8&qpcustomd=1 https://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share...

mbrubeck 12y ago
That's their share of mobile web browsing. It measures usage, while the other numbers here are measuring share of unit sales. There's always been a big disparity between the market share and web usage share of Android vs. iOS: http://blog.cloudfour.com/explaining-the-ios-and-android-mobile-disparity/ http://blog.cloudfour.com/explaining-the-ios-and-android-mob... See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems#Mobile_devices https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_syste...
- bentcorner 12y ago
  Google (probably) knows the answer to this question. How many people completely miss the WiFi connection prompt? You could mix in data from browsers (how many people browse near a wifi point that they have connected to with their browser, but don't connect with their wifi? how many people browse in the evening/morning but not connected to wifi?) There's probably a wealth of demographic data they could correlate through gmail content and/or chrome browsing trends to correlate user income level, although I don't know if Google has privacy controls in place that makes sharing this data between divisions possible.
  - puranjay 12y ago
    Smartphones are the first computing experience for a lot of people. My mom, 64, had never used any sort of computing device before I got her an Android smartphone. She doesn't even know what a browser is. The only thing she knows is how to use WhatsApp and order things off a shopping app I installed for her. To her, that's the "internet". And she is perfectly happy with that.
testrun 12y ago

thejosh 12y ago

Lol, 84% in what countries? Looking at our web stats across our clients, android isn't even a drop in the bucket compared to iOS. Having a large market share in third world countries who won't buy your app isn't much of a win.

foreign-inc 12y ago
Having a large market share in third world countries who won't buy your app isn't much of a win. >> ask Whatsapp. :)
- striking 12y ago
  Whatsapp is really a special case, though. They cornered a market that's relatively unique. Third-world countries don't need another messaging app.
  - stingraycharles 12y ago
    And from my experience here in Cambodia, everyone is using Facebook anyway. So it isn't a clear black and white "third world countries only use whatsapp" either. Also, there is a severe desire of everyone to buy an iPhone -- so they just lag behind a lot. You can buy a pre-jailbroken iPhone 4G for around $100 here.
- baddox 12y ago
  If Whatsapp lost, sign me up for losing.
rdtsc 12y ago
> Having a large market share in third world countries who won't buy your app isn't much of a win Pretty sure the large market share in third world countries also doesn't care about your win either. They just have Android phones. Not sure if it is Google's win, users' win or OEM's that make the hardware's win. Kind of a mix perhaps.

puranjay 12y ago

It's because of the cost, nothing else. Everyone I know would switch to iPhone in a heartbeat if they had the Rs. 60k you need in India to buy one. My Android phone, on the other hand, cost me Rs. 13k. Android thrived because shelling out a month's salary on phones is a losing proposition in third world countries (which have the majority of phone uses)

xorcist 12y ago
Price is just as important in the first world countries. Not everyone wants to spend almost $1k USD on a phone, which is something you might drop and break. When there are Android phones on offer with equal or better specifications and a lower price, most people will pick that one.
rednukleus 12y ago
This is just not true. Android manufacturers sell huge numbers of high end phones that cost the same amount as iPhones. I have owned both, and found the Android to be a much better user experience. iPhone has the worst keyboard I've ever used, the screen on the 5 was way too small, and I just find the whole UI to be really clunky and badly designed for the way I use devices (eg. The lack of a back button and inconsistent way apps try to deal with this limitation) Sure, plenty of people like iPhones and plenty of people would swap, but I know a lot of people who really don't like iOS and are far happier with a high end android
- avinassh 12y ago
  > This is just not true. Android manufacturers sell huge numbers of high end phones that cost the same amount as iPhones. But not in India, a third world country, as OP makes the point. Majority of Android budget range here is ₹5000 ($90) to ₹15000 (~$300). Where as an iPhone costs ₹53,500.
  - rednukleus 12y ago
    My point is that there are probably plenty of Indians who, if they had 53,000 to spend on a phone, would choose a high end Android. Some iPhone fans try to make the argument that "everyone who could afford it would buy an iPhone", and that is just not true as evidenced by the large number of high end Androids which are sold. Some people just don't like iOS.

bsbechtel 12y ago

84% market share is a loss if you don't make any money on your product.

GotAnyMegadeth 12y ago
Well you are still potentially stopping your competitors from making money on their product.
- bsbechtel 12y ago
  That's certainly true, although I don't think Apple is struggling in the revenue department these days. To be fair, Android has contributed to Google's core business by massively expanding the reach of their search ads...or so the story goes.
dragonwriter 12y ago
> 84% market share is a loss if you don't make any money on your product. Its a win if it is preventing a competitor from getting the kind of dominance in a market that is key to delivery of a product on which you do make money (like, in Google's case, mobile platforms are to online advertising) that they could use to extract rents that would cut into those profits. Chrome and Android don't need to make money directly to be successful, they just need to be popular enough that other browser or mobile OS vendors can't use their position to cut off Google's advertising revenues.