In Just Three Years, The iPad Has Changed Everything About The Computer Market

[Aunt Spiker]

They're full of theirselves: the computer industry and tech world doesn't seem any different now than it did in 2009 to the average consumer.

Smaller and more compact isn't a huge change - that's just a natural progression. Beyond getting smaller and more compact the average tech available now is just as useful (or useless if you're a pessimist) as ever.

:shrug:

The world has most certainly not changed.

 

[digsbe]

Personally I don't like smaller devices. I like having larger screen. Having something be more compact is nice but not necessary for me. My laptop is bigger and I like that. My phone has a 4.3 inch screen and is bigger than most and i like that. I don't think I could ever buy a thin laptop (like the macbook air) due to them not being able to complete all functions as a laptop. Tablets are nice, and I'm considering buying one for school. To be truthful though I'm waiting for more info to come out on the Microsoft Surface before I choose to buy anything. I want something functional, not something fancy.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Personally I don't like smaller devices. I like having larger screen. Having something be more compact is nice but not necessary for me. My laptop is bigger and I like that. My phone has a 4.3 inch screen and is bigger than most and i like that. I don't think I could ever buy a thin laptop (like the macbook air) due to them not being able to complete all functions as a laptop. Tablets are nice, and I'm considering buying one for school. To be truthful though I'm waiting for more info to come out on the Microsoft Surface before I choose to buy anything. I want something functional, not something fancy.

I like being able to fix it when it heads south - and upgrade it when it no longer meets my demand. This 'tidy package' doesn't cut it for my needs and wants. . . spend hundreds just to have to toss it later when it ****s itself? No.

 

[PeteEU]

Personally I don't like smaller devices. I like having larger screen. Having something be more compact is nice but not necessary for me. My laptop is bigger and I like that. My phone has a 4.3 inch screen and is bigger than most and i like that. I don't think I could ever buy a thin laptop (like the macbook air) due to them not being able to complete all functions as a laptop. Tablets are nice, and I'm considering buying one for school. To be truthful though I'm waiting for more info to come out on the Microsoft Surface before I choose to buy anything. I want something functional, not something fancy.

Tablets are only useful for reading news on the can and on the road. For actual work they are piss poor. Now with Intel Windows 8, that might change.. especially with the Surface idea of putting a physical keyboard in the protective cover... but as it stands now.. the iPad or any Android tablet are piss poor replacement for a PC with a keyboard. Only ones that can use them are those who need a computer for an half an hour of reading mails and doing some news reading.... your mom/dad basically.

 

[Aberration]

Tablets are only useful for reading news on the can and on the road. For actual work they are piss poor. Now with Intel Windows 8, that might change.. especially with the Surface idea of putting a physical keyboard in the protective cover... but as it stands now.. the iPad or any Android tablet are piss poor replacement for a PC with a keyboard. Only ones that can use them are those who need a computer for an half an hour of reading mails and doing some news reading.... your mom/dad basically.

Define work. Technical documents are much easier to look at in the field than a computer. Editing, not so much, yet. I hardly use my laptop now.

 

[beerftw]

Mutually Assured Destruction: Google/Motorola vs. Apple | ZDNet

just reading that sounds like google is trying to counter apple suing everyone for copying technology they stole by suing them in a way if the win all iphone/ios products would be banned for sale in the us.

to make it worse apple vs google,apple would lose since google holds motorolas patents.google being the one of the biggest business in the world has also backed free market ideas,microsoft has also shifted towards open market vs owning the the market ideals,apple seems to be the only one content with eliminating the competition,and the competetion has all the firepower to fight back and win.i wouldnt be surprised if microsoft jumped in on it,killing iphone would create a void windows phones could fill.

 

[LizardofOz]

The thing about apple haters is they always seem to ignore the fact that Apple may have not been the first, but they are typically the first to do it right on their strongest products and make it work well for the consumer market. Windows 8 doesn't have a strong focus on tablets "just because" it has a strong focus because the future of computing is mobile devices. Pcs will always be around, but they will become the niche devices.

 

[Carjosse]

In just three years Apple has probably killed dozens of people manufacturing iPads.

 

[PeteEU]

Define work. Technical documents are much easier to look at in the field than a computer.

That comes under reading on the can or on the road. I fully admit that reading documents of almost any kind is far superior on a tablet than a laptop or real computer.. simply because it is so mobile.

Editing, not so much, yet.

It is horrible and that is saying it lightly. Surface from Microsoft might be a game changer since it comes with a physical keyboard, but as it stands now.. the iPad or Android tablet are horrible for writing on.. even small things like email. Taptalk for this website is good and still crap.. it is far better than using a browser on the site, but compared to my normal computer.. sorry no contest there.

I hardly use my laptop now.

I hardly use my tablet. Everything is much easier on a real PC with a real keyboard and a real mouse. Sure news apps are okay but even they can be frustrating sometimes. They are also often quite limiting in what they report.... breaking news/top stories, but other than that... not that good.

Now I do read books on the tablet when I have time (not much lately)... and that it is good for.

 

[PeteEU]

The thing about apple haters is they always seem to ignore the fact that Apple may have not been the first, but they are typically the first to do it right on their strongest products and make it work well for the consumer market. Windows 8 doesn't have a strong focus on tablets "just because" it has a strong focus because the future of computing is mobile devices. Pcs will always be around, but they will become the niche devices.

No. Apple has a brilliant marketing department. They dont do it right, they market it right. Apple could market dog **** and people would buy it.

The fact it has a large mac fanboys army that will buy anything with an Apple logo, helps the company with marketing (oh look a the lines!), when in fact the reality is very different. The launch of the Verizon iPhone is a good example. The media expected long lines and the usual Apple fanboy fanfare. It did not happen, but they did report long lines... ironic no?

If you only listen to the media, then Apple are the biggest phone maker in the world. Not even close. Apple's dominance is built on brainwashing pure and simple. It has most of the media in its back pocket, because of free macs and the graphics industry using Macs. A good example is CNBC. Just 2 days ago they were talking how loyal the Apple customers were because a new study showed that 45% of users would buy an iPhone 5. Now they mentioned passing by that the same number for Android was... 48%, but it was not something they went in deep on because it was a negative for Apple that Android users were more loyal. Now the new iPhone and Apple was talked about like it was best thing since sliced cheese. They kept saying best, biggest and the usual propaganda words Apple love their minions to use. Even when they started talking Apple and China, they ignored the fact that Apple in China is hurting big time. No, they said China was the future and Apple were big there and so on. No.. Apple gets outsold by Windows Phone in China! hell even Symbian sold more smart phones in China until 6 months ago.

Apple is using the same marketing technique that Chivas Regal (the whiskey) used back in the day. Chivas is not a good whiskey. It is a whiskey with caramel flavouring and colouring. When they started making it, it did not sell. So they decided to change strategy. They made the label more exclusive (looks old), and doubled the price. It is the same poor whiskey in the bottle, but with this change and price rise, then suddenly Chivas started selling like hot cakes because it became "exclusive". Apple does the same. Their products are average but in a "good looking package" and since high price must mean quality, then people are conned into buying Apple products. In reality, the components in an Apple machine are no different than a cheap PC from HP or Dell.

In the end, Apple is no different than a religious cult... and that is actually proven by scientists heh.. Apple fanboys use the same parts of the brain that religious nutjobs in religious cults use... so.

 

[Oozlefinch]

Apple Inc scored a sweeping legal victory over Samsung on Friday as a U.S. jury found the Korean company had copied critical features of the hugely popular iPhone and iPad and awarded the U.S. company $1.05 billion in damages. The verdict -- which came after less than three days of jury deliberations -- could lead to an outright ban on sales of key Samsung products and will likely solidify Apple's dominance of the exploding mobile computing market.

Uhh, Apple is not Dominant. Yes, they would like to be, but they are not. And a great many in the industry expect their marketshare to start slipping.

Since the Android OS hit the market for cell phones, it has really taken off. Linux based, and it is not all tied in to a single manufacturer which a lot of developers really like. In just 3 years it has sucked up most of the marketshare that used to be dominated by the RiM BlackBerry (Apple has never been more then #2, first being second fiddle to RiM, now being second fiddle to Google).

And most analysts think that in the years to come, Apple is going to have some serious issues. Because Android is cross-platform, many companies are going to it for a variety of applications and appliances. Ands secondly, there are some questions as to the new Windows OS coming out soon. Windows 8 may soar, or it may fall on it's face. But their plan to eventually bring everything together (X-Box, Desktop, Cell Phone) is likely how things may very well be in the future.

And I have had all of these devices. BlackBerry, Palm, Apple, Windows, and Android on my phones. And my favorite by far is the Android. And if you look at real marketshare, the public tends to feel the same way.

Oh, and that victory is not as wonderful as you may think. Apple is simply doing "business as usual", and trying to sue any competition to death in court because they know they can't survive against them in free and fair competition in the marketplace. As such, they have filed over 50 lawsuits against Samsung. Here are how most have turned out:

Japan, Apple lost.
Germany, Apple lost.
Italy, Apple lost.
France, Apple lost.
Netherlands, Apple lost.
Australia, Apple lost.
UK, Apple lost.
US, the only place Apple has won (shocking, in a trial in Northern California).

So looking at the record, Apple has not done very well. Then again, they never have done well in court. Their favorite tactic is to either try to get a company to go broke paying legal fees, to keep their new technology tied up for years so it can't be released (until Apple can quickly BE their own version), or to make a company make changes in order to avoid the legal fees.

Business as usual at Crapple. Stiffle advancements, and crust competition in any way possible.

Oh, and in actual sales of cell phones, Apple does in no way dominate there either:

8%, that's it. Even foundering former dominating Nokia still has over double that marketshare percentage.

Samsung, almost 2.5 times the marketshare of Apple.

Nope, hardly a crushing blow. But Apple is also suing Motorola, and just about any other phone company that has ever marketed a "Smart Phone". In fact, 60% of all lawsuits in the cell phone market are because Apple sues somebody else.

Yea, Apple dominates, in it's own mind. You hear statements like "Growth increases of 50%!" screamed out, without most people even asking "50% of what?" Well, when your market share is only 3%, a 50% growth means you now have 4.5% of the marketplace. Big whoop-dee-doo.

 

[PeteEU]

Android Smartphone Sales, Led By Big Screens, Are Growing Everywhere Except In The U.S. | TechCrunch

The interesting thing about this article is the fact that the only 2 countries where Apple has a sizeable marketshare and minor growth are the two biggest English speaking countries. Everywhere else with the exception of Brazil, Apple has gone back and Android has shot forward. In Brazil however even Windows Phone is much bigger than Apple. And in Spain.. Apple is almost wiped out. Now some claim that that is because Spain is in economic hardship... but then I would like to point out that Apple is also almost wiped out in Germany with an Android domination of over 70% there.. and growing.

The only "major" country that is not listed in the article is China.. and here Apple is a minor player since it is at the moment not on the biggest cell provider. Here Android dominates big time with Windows Phone, Symbian and iOS fighting over the 2nd place. From the media coverage (selling kidney for an ipad and so on), one would expect huge sales in China.. not so.. they have in fact falling sales.

Now Apple fans will claim it is because people are waiting for the iPhone 5... and they might be some what right, but the decline in marketshares and so on has been going on since the release of the iPhone 4s... so..

Point is.. Apple is not the biggest in any country any where, and that is despite what Apple claims.

 

[ThirdTerm]

Japan, Apple lost.
Germany, Apple lost.
Italy, Apple lost.
France, Apple lost.
Netherlands, Apple lost.
Australia, Apple lost.
UK, Apple lost.
US, the only place Apple has won (shocking, in a trial in Northern California).

So looking at the record, Apple has not done very well. Then again, they never have done well in court. Their favorite tactic is to either try to get a company to go broke paying legal fees, to keep their new technology tied up for years so it can't be released (until Apple can quickly BE their own version), or to make a company make changes in order to avoid the legal fees.

The local Japanese court sided with the South Korean company because it collaborates with Japan's largest telecommunications company to sell its Galaxy products and a South Korean court decided that it was Apple which stole Samsung's innovative ideas. The US court's decision is a game changer for Apple since the US is the largest cellphone market in the world and if Samsung keeps losing its court cases in the US, it will be forced to reach a settlement with Apple by agreeing to pay license fees to Apple, which would create a level playing field. The US may need to protect the most innovative company in the country. Otherwise, Apple could turn into a shadow of its former self just like Nokia within few years and it would jeopardise America's high-technology industry's future and it's not about satisfying one company's ego.

 

[Oozlefinch]

Now Apple fans will claim it is because people are waiting for the iPhone 5... and they might be some what right, but the decline in marketshares and so on has been going on since the release of the iPhone 4s... so..

Point is.. Apple is not the biggest in any country any where, and that is despite what Apple claims.

Actually, I question how many phones they are actually selling. I know quite a few people that still use 3 and 4 year old iPhones. For many, there is simply no reason to update. And one thing has become more obvious in the last few years, is that customers are turning away from the "Hardware and Software Single Source" companies like RiM and Palm, and going to systems where the phone maker and OS maker are seperate companies like Android and Microsoft when it comes to smart phones.

And many experts are predicting this to become the way of the future.

Myself, probably the biggest decision maker was the fact that I had to have a phone with a "real" keyboard, where I would not have to be constantly pressing the screen to do things. Call it a holdout from my old days with the Palm and BlackBerry, but I have had several "touch screen" phones and always hated it as the main source of input.

So when I bought a new phone a few months ago (finally retiring my old Palm Treo), I picked one that had a real keyboard. And my wife chose the same model for this reason as well.

I think the biggest problem with Apple is like that of Harley-Davidson. They arrogantly believe that they have the only product that anybody would ever want, and they and their minions tend to treat anybody with contempt that does not agree. Some people may think the total touch screen is the greatest thing ever, personally I hate them. And I am thankfull there are companies out there that make products that do suit my needs.

 

[Oozlefinch]

The US may need to protect the most innovative company in the country. Otherwise, Apple could turn into a shadow of its former self just like Nokia within few years and it would jeopardise America's high-technology industry's future and it's not about satisfying one company's ego.

"Most innovative company in the country"? You are not serious, are you?

Apple Inc. (they dropped "Computers" long ago) has from almost the very beginning been one of the largest thieves in the High Tech industry. And once they steal an idea, they then fight to the death against anybody else that develops something even remotely similar. And their history is full of absolute failures, some of them even copies of other companies products.

No, sorry but Apple is not innovative. In fact, I can't think of any of their products that is really "original". iPhone? iPad? iMac? iPod? All done years before by other companies. Mac, stollen from XEROX. iPhone, stollen from Nokia, Palm and MicroSoft (and others like Psion). iPod, stollen from the Diamond Rio. But this is nothing new, tech companies have always taken a concept and improved upon it. However, most are not anywhere near as litigation crazy as Apple is about it though.

Imagine where we would be today if Marconi Wireless and the Radio Corporation of America had tried to insist that only they could make and sell radios?

If this is required for a company to stay in business, it is better that they collapse and go out of business. Anybody that needs this much Government protection does not deserve to be in operation. I guess next you are going to suggest we turn over all computer and electronics companies in the US to the controll of Apple as well.

 

[Schutzengel]

Apple sets the pace and leads through innovation.

Funny courier is older than iPad,

Surface technology is older than iPad...

Tablet PCs are from 2002... they just stole ideas and put them in a pretty box...

 

[Oozlefinch]

Tablet PCs are from 2002... they just stole ideas and put them in a pretty box...

Oh, they are way older then that.

Meet the DynaBook, circa 1972:

Originally designed in 1968, it was to feature a GUI interface, portable, and was designed by Alan Kay.

If that sounds familiar, it is because he knew at the time the technology was not available to make such a device then. But he was one of the first members of XEROX PARC, and was the master behind the XEROX Alto. His main interest in designing the Alto was to make a simple programming language, and to create a GUI interface.

This is the same Alto that Apple stole 6 years later to create the Macintosh.

Apple really creates little to nothing that is "new". It simply takes ideas from other people and tries to claim them as their own.

 

[PeteEU]

The local Japanese court sided with the South Korean company because it collaborates with Japan's largest telecommunications company to sell its Galaxy products and a South Korean court decided that it was Apple which stole Samsung's innovative ideas. The US court's decision is a game changer for Apple since the US is the largest cellphone market in the world and if Samsung keeps losing its court cases in the US, it will be forced to reach a settlement with Apple by agreeing to pay license fees to Apple, which would create a level playing field. The US may need to protect the most innovative company in the country. Otherwise, Apple could turn into a shadow of its former self just like Nokia within few years and it would jeopardise America's high-technology industry's future and it's not about satisfying one company's ego.

God why do American conservatives always play the nationalist card when they are under fire?

The difference between the cases is clear... South Korea, Japan, Europe.. all professional expert in patent law judges... the US, a jury.

All the Apple victory is doing is exposing the US jury system as pathetic and making the US smartphone market less and less important. Oh and the biggest Smartphone market is not the US.. it is China. China has more smartphone users than the US has population.

 

[Zyphlin]

Oozle, some halfway honest and objective discussion with your post would've been nice...

For example, you focus on "dominance" in the Mobile OS game and highlight google's Android, which is fair point. However, you do what typical Google Fans who don't want to be objective do...you look only at the individual OS sales rather than individual manufacturer sales. Google is giving it's OS for free, it's a significantly different structure regarding an OS compared to say...the old Windows vs Mac...fight of PC's. Now, your mirror...the non-objective Apple fans...only want ot ever look at individual manufacturer phones and try and go that round. That's also painting a shallow picture and horribly unobjective.

The reality is that Apple is dominating versus Google in the OS game, but is doing very well in terms of Apple the smartphone manufacturer versus other smartphone manufacturers. As of Q2, the closest company to them was Samsung...and they were half of what Apple was selling:

So as is often the case with statistics, it simply is how one wants to spin it and look at it to make their point look better. Die hard Googler's like you go one way, Die hard Apple people go the other way, and as you've demonstrated so well...few of them ever go objective.

This is similar with your second point, where you jump from talking about smartphones to just across the board "cell phone" sales. This, of course, ignores the fact that Apple doesn't actually function ubiquously through the entire realm of "cell phones" and is singularly acting within the realm of "Smartphones" which is a sub-market of the greater cell phone market. When you're talking about "dominance" of market share, you have to look at the actual market they're dealing in....the over all cell phone market is not what that is.

The reality is that neither side is truly "dominating" the other at the moment in an overall stance and both are set to continue to grow and expand as the continued move toward smartphones occurs.

 

[Oozlefinch]

God why do American conservatives always play the nationalist card when they are under fire?

Please refrain from things like that. If you can not tell, I am also a Conservative (and American), and I also find those remarks disturbing and reject them.

In fact, with the statements about protection and the like, it sounds like TT is more Socialist then Conservative.

 

[PeteEU]

Please refrain from things like that. If you can not tell, I am also a Conservative (and American), and I also find those remarks disturbing and reject them.

In fact, with the statements about protection and the like, it sounds like TT is more Socialist then Conservative.

Does not change the fact that the nationalist card was played to explain defeats by Apple in other countries. It is a pathetic argument period.

 

[Oozlefinch]

Oozle, some halfway honest and objective discussion with your post would've been nice...

For example, you focus on "dominance" in the Mobile OS game and highlight google's Android, which is fair point. However, you do what typical Google Fans who don't want to be objective do...you look only at the individual OS sales rather than individual manufacturer sales. Google is giving it's OS for free, it's a significantly different structure regarding an OS compared to say...the old Windows vs Mac...fight of PC's. Now, your mirror...the non-objective Apple fans...only want ot ever look at individual manufacturer phones and try and go that round. That's also painting a shallow picture and horribly unobjective.

I actually did discuss that. And I also believe that Android is a game tipper for the mobile OS market.

Prior to Android, pretty much every phone company used their own OS. Palm phones ran Palm, BlackBerry ran BlackBerry, Apple ran Apple, and about the only OSs of any significance sold to multiple makers were the various MicroSoft ones, and short lived GEOS that Nokia used. And for Smart Phones to really evolve, just like computers they needed to settle on a single dominant operating system.

Because if you are a developer, do you really want to have to make 5 or 6 versions of your program? Not really, it is more expensive and a waste of resources. And today we are seeing a rise in the use of operating systems that are not made exclusively for one brand of phone, but can be placed on many different phones (and indeed many different devices).

Of the companies that are following the old business model, only 3 are really left. Palm (now owned by HP) is still hanging in there, barely. And the old Palm OS is gone, replaced by a new Linux variant called webOS. BlackBerry is still there, but pretty much dissapeared from the personal market, they now concentrate on the business market (mostly because of the mail and message systems). Then you have iPhone, which is holding on, but has not shown any significant growth other then when they release a new model (and how much of that is new growth and how much is simply upgrades is still questioned).

I was reading one of my IT journals a few months ago, and in it they tried to predict the future changes. And their largest prediction was that more upgradeable and transferable operating systems will become the norm in the next decade. Companies like RiM will have to follow Android and webOS, or fall out other then as a tiny nitch market. Apple was another of those that had a questionable future, because of their total control of hardware and OS (the same thing that eventually shut them out of most of the computer marketplace).

What is cool and neat now, in 10 years will likely be a casualty in the changing marketplace. And Apple really is resistant to real change, and any kind of technology sharing and cooperation.

I and others are not looking at the current numbers, but the trends. And that trend shows stagnation for Apple. Apple has an OS that runs on their pad, their phone, and their MP3 player. Android (and there are other Linux OSs in the works by other companies) run on everything from refridgerators and GPS to tredmills, laptops and now even car radios. And this is not because it is free, it is because it is more versitile and can be changed to fit the needs of the designer.

In short, they saw the era of one company controlling hardware and software as a dead end. And in looking back at the history of the computer industry, I agree with this prediction. This is what doomed the Macintosh to a nitch market, as well as the Palm and BlackBerry. And it will likely eventually do the same to the iPhone. People simply do not like long term being forced to get everything through a single source, they want competition and choice.

 

[Oozlefinch]

Does not change the fact that the nationalist card was played to explain defeats by Apple in other countries. It is a pathetic argument period.

I agree, which is why I said TT was wrong as well. But that concept stands outside of general political concepts. You will find it equally among Liberals and Conservatives.

 

[Zyphlin]

In terms of a long term notion, I generally agree with you. The long term growth of Android is far healthier than that of Apple. However, when discussing CURRENT market share and CURRENT market action within this year and the near future/past, that is a different story. Your post I responded to did not seem to be aiming at looking at "trends" for a "10 year down the road" view...it was talking about the here and now. The here and now is that Apple is still wildly successful, is still the hardware leader in terms of smartphone sales by double their closest competitor, is still the leader in terms of app store usage in two major markets of the U.S. and China I believe, is in a solid #2 slot in terms of OS spread with about 1/3rd of the market in that, and is still doing successful in terms of mindshare in the population regarding the notion of a smartphone. If you want to discuss long term, I'm open to discussing long term. You seemed focused on the short term in the quote I posted though, and in that notion I had issues with some of what you said and specifically some of what you didn't say.

And actually, the remnants of Palm are no longer functioning off the old business model. WebOS has spawned OpenWebOS...a goal now of creating an operating system that can be used on various devices rather than property products. That said, if you want to tango on the reasons for Palm's faliure with WebOS I'd be glad to do it because you're absolutely speaking in my wheel house. The destruction of Palm due to the debacle and bungling of, imho, the best mobile OS I've ever used is due to numerous issues. While one of those issues may be the desire to focus on hardware/software as a pairing, the reality is that was more a problem born from a greater problem...namely, their very poor hardware. Horrible advertising decisions, poor carrier choices, inability to push to market in a timely fashion, and more all contributed to the failure of the OS as much, if not more, than Palm's desire to run the hardware/software for their smartphone out of the same building.

Also, Blackberry is prepping currently to make one last attempt to recover ground in the consumer market with Blackberry 10, moving to a QNX framework and attempting to modernize the blackberry experience. It'll be interesting to see how it goes but I'm not hopeful for them to be honest.

Also, history in the smartphone market has not been exactly kinder to the "One OS for Many" approach either. WindowsCE, and it's spawn Windows Mobile, also was able to be on many things beyond just smart phones. It too went out to various manufacturers who utilized it as the OS for their particular phones. However, one of the costs of such a strategy is fragmentation. You spoke of having to make an app for multiple OS's...having to make ones for different screen sizes, aspect ratios, processors, button layouts, etc wasn't exactly a great thing either. Google has seemingly learned some of the lessons of fragmentation from Windows Mobile, but not all of them. While I do have highers hopes for google in the long term, history in the Smartphone Market suggests that a ubiquous OS spanning multiple companies phones does not necessarily assure you longevity or success. The issue with your premise is that you seek to utilize history to justify your statements regarding Apple and the inevitability of their collapse while plainly ignoring the historical analogue to the generalized method that Google is following through with.

 

[PeteEU]

In terms of a long term notion, I generally agree with you. The long term growth of Android is far healthier than that of Apple. However, when discussing CURRENT market share and CURRENT market action within this year and the near future/past, that is a different story. Your post I responded to did not seem to be aiming at looking at "trends" for a "10 year down the road" view...it was talking about the here and now. The here and now is that Apple is still wildly successful, is still the hardware leader in terms of smartphone sales by double their closest competitor, is still the leader in terms of app store usage in two major markets of the U.S. and China I believe, is in a solid #2 slot in terms of OS spread with about 1/3rd of the market in that, and is still doing successful in terms of mindshare in the population regarding the notion of a smartphone.

Just so you understand the Apple propaganda you have "eaten" and it is not meant as an insult.. but that is how the US media works.

First off, Samsung sold more smartphones world wide than Apple last year.. barely but most studies say they did. And since that.. well there is no competition. It was just announced even this week that the Galaxy S3 has been outselling the iPhone 4S for months now in the US... not too big a shocker considering the iPhone 5 is coming out soon. But yes Apple is top dog in the US when it comes to smartphone sales, but not to when it comes to OS... , but the US is far far from "the whole world".

Secondly, Apple is nothing in China. Despite what Apple propaganda media and HQ love to lie about, Apple has under a 7% marketshare in China according to the most recent numbers I can find. Its market share has been falling for a while. If we are talking about OS only, even then Apple is nothing. Android dominates and Apple even gets its butt handed to it by both Symbian (!!!) and Windows Phone. Now there are reasons for this, but it is self inflicted by Apple.. they have not yet put the correct wireless chip into their phones so it is compatible with China Mobile.. the biggest (70+%) telecom provider in China.

Thirdly, around the world Apple has been loosing marketshare hand over fist to Android and even Windows Phone. Will iPhone 5 change that... maybe, but most likely not.. simply because the phone is too expensive even compared to the S3 or HTC One series. The S2 was outselling the iPhone 4S most of this year in the UK. Germany and Spain have pretty much dumped the iPhone and many other countries are following suit. Can the iPhone 5 stop the bleeding outside the US and UK (and Denmark).. maybe, but it has to be a spectacular upgrade... and so far it is looking like it at best will be another minor catchup to the rest upgrade.

My point is.. Apple makes a good product, no doubt about that, but its "dominance" is highly overblown on so many levels.. and that is largely due to Apple propaganda.. err marketing. Many people I speak too, who dont know much about smartphones actually believe that Apple is the biggest in the world. They are more than often shocked that in reality in most countries.. Apple is a small player in most places on Earth.