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Re: "owning the market", people forget the difference between market share and profit share. Profits are what keep your ecosystem alive and thriving. Raw usage

Re: "owning the market", people forget the difference between market share and profit share. Profits are what keep your ecosystem alive and thriving. Raw usage numbers, by themselves, don't. (Sure, usage can lead to profits... so just measure profits!) Yes, Android sells more devices. Apple has 93% of the profits in industry, Samsung has 9%, and everyone else is fighting for that tiny slice and losing money. http://www.macrumors.com/2015/02/09/apple-mobile-profits-q4-2014/ http://www.macrumors.com/2015/02/09/apple-mobile-profits-q4-... The more profitable ecosystem is where developers want to play. Apple doesn't need to change their royalty rates, everyone is clamoring to be in that arena.

soperj 12y ago
I think you have your percentages skewed. 93 + 9 = ... Secondly how much as a percentage does Google make from mobile? Clearly it's not all about the take from people's pockets.
- mcintyre1994 12y ago
  I don't know the exact figures I've seen before but definitely similar - Apple and Samsung between them make more than 100% of the profit under that measurement - everyone else totalled is at a loss. Agreed about Google though, I highly doubt these figures consider their profits as a result of their position in mobile - though I guess that'd be difficult to accurately calculate.
- throwawaymsft 12y ago
  See, that's the shocking thing: the other vendors are losing money. Apple makes $93, Samsung makes $9, MSFT/LG/HTC/Nokia have losses of $2.
stormbrew 12y ago
I'm pretty sure this is referring to the operating profits on hardware sales, which would be a pretty silly factor in deciding what platform to write software for. Third party software devs make precisely none of that profit. Samsung also doesn't, afaik, make any of whatever Google's cut of Android software sales are, so even if it does include app store cuts that just turns it into an apples and oranges comparison. This is not to say the conclusion is wrong, just that the data here is not relevant to it.
- throwawaymsft 12y ago
  Agreed, I'm using total hardware profits by ecosystem as a proxy for willingness of consumers in those ecosystems to spend money. Actual revenue from each store isn't easy to come by from what I've seen (esp. since the various Android stores are fragmented). But I think we already know the conclusion: the iOS store has more money spent in it than the Android one.
- tjl 12y ago
  If you want actual app store numbers, here's a comparison from June of last year, http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-app-revenue-android-ios-2014-6 http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-app-revenue-android-ios...
scholia 12y ago
Most of Apple's profits come from hardware. In software, you should really go by software revenues. There's an installed base (units), but the installed base isn't the market, just the potential market. The market consists only of people spending money... Having said that, you need to account for all the revenues, ie not just the purchase price of an app in the store. That's an area where not everybody is happy with Apple.

soperj 12y ago

I think you have your percentages skewed. 93 + 9 = ... Secondly how much as a percentage does Google make from mobile? Clearly it's not all about the take from people's pockets.

mcintyre1994 12y ago
I don't know the exact figures I've seen before but definitely similar - Apple and Samsung between them make more than 100% of the profit under that measurement - everyone else totalled is at a loss. Agreed about Google though, I highly doubt these figures consider their profits as a result of their position in mobile - though I guess that'd be difficult to accurately calculate.
throwawaymsft 12y ago
See, that's the shocking thing: the other vendors are losing money. Apple makes $93, Samsung makes $9, MSFT/LG/HTC/Nokia have losses of $2.

stormbrew 12y ago

I'm pretty sure this is referring to the operating profits on hardware sales, which would be a pretty silly factor in deciding what platform to write software for. Third party software devs make precisely none of that profit. Samsung also doesn't, afaik, make any of whatever Google's cut of Android software sales are, so even if it does include app store cuts that just turns it into an apples and oranges comparison. This is not to say the conclusion is wrong, just that the data here is not relevant to it.

throwawaymsft 12y ago
Agreed, I'm using total hardware profits by ecosystem as a proxy for willingness of consumers in those ecosystems to spend money. Actual revenue from each store isn't easy to come by from what I've seen (esp. since the various Android stores are fragmented). But I think we already know the conclusion: the iOS store has more money spent in it than the Android one.
tjl 12y ago
If you want actual app store numbers, here's a comparison from June of last year, http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-app-revenue-android-ios-2014-6 http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-app-revenue-android-ios...

scholia 12y ago

Most of Apple's profits come from hardware. In software, you should really go by software revenues. There's an installed base (units), but the installed base isn't the market, just the potential market. The market consists only of people spending money... Having said that, you need to account for all the revenues, ie not just the purchase price of an app in the store. That's an area where not everybody is happy with Apple.