One of the pages where IDC shows smart phone market share year to year
going back to 2011 is
http://www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-market-share.jsp It does show
market share for Samsung slipping and being taken up by other Android
competitors. This data is three or four months old, so I wouldn't be
surprise if Samsung market share has slipped a bit more to LG and HTC.
It also doesn't take into account yet the iPhone 6, so again I wouldn't
be surprised if Apple has picked up a few points recently.
On 11/21/2014 10:00 PM, John Panarese wrote:
Unfortunately, I'm getting on a plane to Buffalo first thing tomorrow, so I
don't have time to respond in depth. The point about the cheaper phones was
actually the one I was trying to make as far as longevity of the product and
why the manufacturers want you to buy or will give the cheaper devices for
free. It also ties into market share because Apple is one of the few companies
that only counts sold products as sales numbers. Samsung and many other
companies count items shipped as sales totals. There is a big difference in
the numbers shipped to stores and the product actually sold to end users. Ask
Microsoft about the Zune ... Include the freebies and the Android market is
rather distorted overall.
Lastly, I'm not sure what numbers you are reading, but Apple has been
gaining overall market share in the handset arena, especially overseas, while
Samsung is actually losing. In fact, they are now being out sold by another
company in their own country. There last couple of devices have been busts.
Sorry, but I can't go digging for numbers and stats at the moment. I'm out of
here until after turkey day.
Take Care
John D. Panarese
Director
Mac for the Blind
Tel, (631) 724-4479
Email, j...@macfortheblind.com
Website, http://www.macfortheblind.com
APPLE CERTIFIED SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL FOR MAC OSX 10.7 LION and 10.8 Mountain
Lion
AUTHORIZED APPLE STORE BUSINESS AFFILIATE
MAC and iOS VOICEOVER TRAINING AND SUPPORT
On Nov 21, 2014, at 9:31 PM, Christopher Chaltain <chalt...@gmail.com> wrote:
I agree with what you're saying on balance, but I do have a few comments on
some of your information.
Android will run on much lower end phones than your iPhone, and manufacturers
are producing very cheal and low end smart phones running Android. These are
the phones that are being given away for free and these are the phones that are
being returned. You get what you pay for, and being able to offer low end smart
phones to people who can't afford Apple products is a good thing. You can't
compare these phones to the high end Android phones or the iPhone though.
I'm also not sure about your statement that Apple is out selling all other
devices out there. According to IDC, Samsung has had a larger share of the
smart phone market than Apple since 2011. This coincides with when Tim Cook
took over, so I'm not sure what marketing data you're referring to when you say
that it proves that Tim Cook isn't leading Apple down the path to destruction.
BTW, I don't think Tim Cook is spear heading the demise of Apple. Obviously,
the fact that Apple doesn't play in the low end space and didn't embrace larger
phones until recently were decisions that were made long before Tim Cook took
over.
Actually, I don't think things are spinning out of control at Apple at all. I
think it's a lot of hype generated by the media and bloggers, although I do
think Apple should have embrace more form factors, including a larger screen
size earlier. I also think breaking into the low end market would be a good
move for Apple, but they'd have to do it without soiling Apple's image of
putting out high end quality devices. Of course, there are much smarter people
at Apple looking at these things, and who am I to second guess one of the
wealthiest and most successful companies ever.
On 11/21/2014 08:43 AM, John Panarese wrote:
No, actually that is not my "problem" with Android. If you have used
technology solutions for as many years as I have, you understand and expect that no
solution is the same. I don't expect iOS to behave the same as Android or vice versa in
the same way I never expected Mac OS to behave like Windows. There is no one size fits
all solution when it comes to accessibility and I think most iOS users realize that.
They choose iOS because it is easy to use and its progressing and despite its bugs, it
still gives us just about the same access as our sighted friends and family with little
fuss or concern over what particular device can run what particular version of iOS. If I
get an iPhone 5 or 5S or 6, I know it can run iOS 8. You cannot say the same for Android
devices. Good luck with that..
Android has several problems that go beyond accessibility. It's not as
stable as some would like it to be simply because of how overall fractured it
has become, especially over the last year alone. When you have over six active
versions of the software out there running on dozens of types of different
devices, this leads to a similar problem that Windows has faced and has led to
its decline. There are just too many devices and versions of Android for
developers to meet and support. The most telling statistics I've read are that
only 11 percent of Android users are and, more importantly, Can run the latest
version of Android. So, realistically, even if we want to make the assertion
that Android accessibility will, some day, equal or surpass that of iOS, the
blind would have equal access to mobile devices, this wouldn't be true. We'd
actually be paying far more in the short and long term to keep up with that
technology than sticking with Apple simply because we couldn't
k
eep that current access for long on our device.
The other 800 pound gorilla in the Android room has to do with the hardware
manufacturers themselves. Frankly, they don't want you to have the latest and
greatest software for long. Of course, Apple wants you to buy the latest iDevice
version as well, but the Android world has taken this marketing methodology several
steps beyond Apple. Simply addressed, your Android device you buy today will not
be able to upgrade to the latest version of Android within six months. There are
so many manufacturers of Android devices out there right now that they are clawing
and struggling for business. This is why you have all these offers of free Android
devices if you sign up for this contract or that contract and why you hear dozens
of different advertisements each month for all these different Android devices
Verizon or AT&T are trying to sell you. Of course, this also then indicates
why Android devices are returned for repair something like 50 times more per user
than Apple devices
.
It's also why, by themselves, Apple is out selling all of these Android devices
that are out there.
Now, I know the automatic reaction that some are going to fling back at me is that I'm just
bashing Android and are going to counter with whatever data they want. This is all, however, marketing
facts that you can discern by spending some time reading articles and talking to people in the handset
business who work for AT&T, Verizon, and the others. It's all a money game and there is a great
deal of money out there. The mobile devices market has become one of the largest for companies, and
it's only going to get bigger. For the person who said something about the Apple Watch being a
"dumb" product, well, remember that Steve Balmer once claimed the iPhone would never sell and
there were those who first called the iPad the, "Maxi Pad".
The problem that Apple faces is what happens to any company or sports
team that reaches the top. You then become the target for any and all
criticism and you are placed under the microscope by the media on a daily
basis. Every new Apple device inevitably faces the usual FUD rumors of blowing
up, breaking and causing other horrible things to users in which we eventually
discover that the stories turn out to be either completely false or, at the
very least, highly exaggerated. It's the nature of the beast though.
Microsoft was treated like this for several years, but, unfortunately for them,
they had Steve Balmer to lead them down a path of destruction without the help
of the media. Despite what some think, Tim Cook is not leading Apple down a
similar road. In fact, the marketing data firmly indicates the opposite since
he took over in 2011.
The reality is competition is what drives advancement and improvements.
So, I personally want Android and Windows Phone to be options and to light
continuous fires under Apple to keep moving forward. The more choices we, as
the blind have, the better. Whatever solution works for you and gets the job
done, stick with it and support it. That's what has enabled us to reach this
point in access to technology, folks.
However, at the same time, for me, I like to be using the best that is
available and stick with the option that is going to be stable and progressive
for years to come. The way Android is perpetuating itself downward simply
because of its marketing methodology, I don't see it being a viable option for
myself. It needs to steer away from the course Microsoft took with Windows.
Look at the amount of malware and viruses on Android devices out there. I've
read estimates of over 60 percent of Android users having malware and not even
being aware of it because they simply don't know or don't realize their phone
or tablet can have such problems. I don't want to buy or add antivirus software
to my mobile device and deal with all of that nonsense personally and I don't
want to have to jump through hoops on my specific hardware choice to get my
accessibility to work simply because I didn't buy a Google phone and chose
something different.
Based on what I know about Apple's internal mindset and focus on
accessibility, I'll stick with iOS until I find myself believing there is
something out there better for the long term. You have no idea what is going
on internally with Apple, but as a person who has been blind his whole life and
who has made technology the center of his life, I'm very satisfied with what
is to come. It might not come overnight, but Mr. Cook has a far more bigger
interest in accessibility than some are assuming they know.
Take Care
John D. Panarese
Director
Mac for the Blind
Tel, (631) 724-4479
Email, j...@macfortheblind.com
Website, http://www.macfortheblind.com
APPLE CERTIFIED SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL FOR MAC OSX 10.7 LION and 10.8 Mountain
Lion
AUTHORIZED APPLE STORE BUSINESS AFFILIATE
MAC and iOS VOICEOVER TRAINING AND SUPPORT
On Nov 21, 2014, at 5:46 AM, Debbie Palmer <wadham.ho...@googlemail.com> wrote:
Hi
I'm an android user and I am totally blind and I, not being a particularly
tetchy person don't have any problems at all using the android platform. I
think the problem is that a lot of Apple users who look at the android
platform think it should work in the same way but its completely different.
The thing is that there's a choice out there and those of us who choose the
android platform shouldn't be slagged off so lets just accept that there are
two very stable platforms out there and accept it.
Debbie
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