I've thought for a long time now that, as competition increases, things will get even better for users, because it forces Apple to do things better. These are good times for tech consumers, and gadget heads!!
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Competition is Fierce as ever, will Apple keep it's pace?
- Thread starter KnightMan
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I've thought for a long time now that, as competition increases, things will get even better for users, because it forces Apple to do things better. These are good times for tech consumers, and gadget heads!!
Honestly, the iPhone is one of the best smartphones out there, but more consumers are picking up hybrid computer devices like a Galaxy Note 2 (I know it's not a computer replacement but is certainly capable as a tablet/netbook replacement today) which the iPhone clearly isn't. If the iPhone were a more independent device I might consider it, but it is clearly meant to be restricted by design. I like on the Galaxy Note 2, I can download and install packages from the internet (separate from Google Play) you can even torrent directly from the device.. maybe you can do this from the iPhone too (I haven't tried torrenting directly from my Note 2 but know it can be done). Also Adobe Flash is cool, and the ability to manage my files from the device including external storage like SD. What I really want is a portable computer in the form factor of a phone/phablet (yes I said it) and for that the Note 2 is the only device that excels at computer functionality instead of just being a smartphone.
Apple used to have virtually 100% of the smartphone market. Now, if you would take the time to read these forums and look at world sales figures, you would know that their market share has been eroded and many people, even die hard fans here, have left the iPhone for something else. Those people are lost sales.
So no...their sales are NOT doing just fine compared to what they could be.
You're all speaking from the "niche owners/enthusiasts" camp.
You need to think like the the regular joe user who doesn't need a custom interface nor do they car what kind of processor or how much ram is under the hood of their mobile devices.
Nobody is doomed. People will continue to buy what works for them and for the majority of the consumers who purchase mobile devices, none of our hard core demands on better or best technology will make a lick of difference in any of the major players bottom lines.
You need to think like the the regular joe user who doesn't need a custom interface nor do they car what kind of processor or how much ram is under the hood of their mobile devices.
Nobody is doomed. People will continue to buy what works for them and for the majority of the consumers who purchase mobile devices, none of our hard core demands on better or best technology will make a lick of difference in any of the major players bottom lines.
Please do not take offence to this, I simply want to put correct info out; Flash is not supported for anything coming stock with Jellybean. You have to side load it from another source and then use a certain browser capable of using Flash, like Firefox.
A lot of users simply don't know about this or don't know how to do it. they find out once they try to view a Flash site. Then it's like, "WTF!"
I also want to point out that the S3 is getting all the same functionality as the Note2 via the Premium Suite upgrade. i.e. Multi-screen view, pop-up video touch manipulation and so on. S-Pen is exclusive and the C Pen for the S3 sucks. Still, both phones are very capable of being their own PC replacement with a BT keyboard and mouse attached. Only wire needed is to connect the Samsung phone to an HDTV and now you have a 50" computer screen.
I love the new Samsung Galaxy phones for their PC capabiliies, external SD card support, replaceable battery and Touchwiz features that really add to the Android UI. Best phones on the market IMO right now.
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Stock holders and analysts disagree with your statement. They may be fine "right now" but the tides of change have come swiftly. In fact, analysts had been expecting Apple to have sewn up the deal with China's #1 mobile network by now, but Apple's arrogance have likely prevented what should have been a huge quarter from them. Although, I am not anticipating much in the way of sales for Apple in China. Maybe a million a quarter. One word: Mi
BTW, if you are in the business, explain to us why Apple has had a downward slide in sales this past year, why they refuse to give out sales figures for the iphone 5, ipad 4 and ipad mini and why we have seen the largest stock percentage drop in Apple stock since the iPhone came into existence?
To add to this, people that would have only bought an iDevice in the past are now buying Android devices, because they are a capable alternative. this wasn't the case prior to 2012.
I wouldn't say that at all. Have you been watching Apple lately? Their stock is plummeting to lows they havent seen since 2008 and they are having a terrible 4th quarter. They will be reporting 4th quarter EPS losses, worst in 9 years for them. Overall, they are doing ok but anyone who owns stock in them should be pretty nervous at whats happened to them since Jobs passed, they screwed iPad users with a new model too quick and the disappointing iphone 5 sales.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontev...st-time-in-9-years-in-q4-financials-to-shine/
There's usually always a feature that's left out of older versions, but I don't think it has anything to do with hardware despite Apples insistence that that's the reason
1st iPhone missed out on MMS.
2nd iPhone missed out on voice commands.
3rd iPhone missed out on multitasking (I think)
4th iPhone missed out on Siri
Not sure if the 4S is actually missing anything.
Some of those features could have quite easily ran in the older devices. Acceptable voice commands have been around for years in devices without fancy microphones, so Apples insistence that the iPhone 3G/4 didn't have the hardware for voice commands/Siri doesn't make sense.
There's usually always a feature that's left out of older versions, but I don't think it has anything to do with hardware despite Apples insistence that that's the reason
1st iPhone missed out on MMS.
2nd iPhone missed out on voice commands.
3rd iPhone missed out on multitasking (I think)
4th iPhone missed out on Siri
Not sure if the 4S is actually missing anything.
Some of those features could have quite easily ran in the older devices. Acceptable voice commands have been around for years in devices without fancy microphones, so Apples insistence that the iPhone 3G/4 didn't have the hardware for voice commands/Siri doesn't make sense.
The thing is that I don't think Apple ever said anything about why Siri wasn't available on older hardware; people just speculated.
As for the 4 being slow on iOS 6: I found it to be the opposite. It seemed as if my 4 sped up a little bit with iOS 6.
The 3GS? Nah, it got multi-tasking. I can't remember if the 3GS missed out on anything software-wise in iOS 4, other than the features which supported the iPhone 4's new hardware, like flash in the camera app. I could be wrong though.
The iPhone 4 missing Siri was a low move though, planned obsolescence at its finest.
Yeah the 3GS got multi-tasking feature. But thanks to the 256MB of RAM, at most only 2-3 apps save state at one time.
Wasn't too sure about that, but I know that most versions miss out on a couple of features that they could technically handle.
Multitasking is actually a fair feature to leave out if memory is limited, so I'm surprised they implemented it!
Wrong attitude and if they take your sit back and watch sales attitude it will turn around and bite them.
They are certainly not taking a sit back and watch attitude, and are not suffering in any measurable way.
They are doing just fine with their current product and feature strategy.
The other cell phone companies all wish they had the same successes as Apple continues to have.
And therein lies a flaw in the Android strategy - it's not defined by Google. It's not even designed by Google together with handset makers. It's defined by Google, dozens of handset makers, and the carriers.
That's largely why you end up with handsets available for sale that you want, but your carrier of choice (or contract) doesn't offer it.
An example of a situation where Apple's control translates into wider availability of their phones.
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and you would probably return it in a few days as I did due to its horrible battery life and gimped 10GB of storage. The Note 2 is a much better choice, love mine.
Copy and Paste were missed o the first two phones i think. If it came to the iP3, it came late just like MMS came late. Neither one were available from launch day.
You are right. The battery life is awful, and I didn't realize it had only 10gb. I would have returned it. To me, the Note 2 doesn't feel like a phone in my hand, it feels like a tablet. Do you think of it more as a phone or a tablet? My current plan is to wait for the gs4.
This right here! What we wish Apple would do means absolutely nothing. They are going to do what the Regular Joe will want or make the experience better for the Regular Joe. NFC? Most Regular Joes don't even know what NFC is. My roomate/best friend doesn't, my mom doesn't, my dad doesn't, my step-dad doesn't, my step-mom doesn't, my siblings don't. They are the market that Apple fits into. That is the market Apple will continue to dominate. Those people don't look at specs. They just know the iPhone works and works very well for them.
Do you want to try asking what NFC is in Japan and how prolific it is there? Just because Americans are ignorant of the technology doesn't mean the rest of the world is.
It's exactly this. The average consumer doesn't know what's under the hood of their phone or, if they do know, they don't know what impact it has or should have.
People that read forums here and know about updates and cores etc are a minority. General consumers will buy a phone that their friends have or one that they see on TV, and you don't see commercials being a list of processor and RAM specifications.
The fact is that while people may know that Android is open and you can root and load roms, few people actually do so. People buy a smartphone so they can text their friends and play angry birds, not to spend hours customizing everything and searching for the latest updates. A month ago I met a girl at a bar who had a Galaxy Note and didn't even know how to close apps from running in the background. She was complaining that the phone was slow compared to her friend's iPhone but she had a lot of crap running that she didn't need. She bought the phone because it was a nice big screen.
The example above is one of the reasons why Android has a marketshare lead. Some core features will attract customer, but these features aren't quad-core processors or 2GB of RAM because general consumers don't know how that stuff works. The other reason is because Android has a lot of low-mid tier phones that are never discussed but are sold in key markets where large quantities are moved. Android looks popular because of how many of these phones are sold, not because it's open and you can do so much.
The fact that so many people are still on Gingerbread is proof that the general consumer doesn't care as much about updates as forum dwellers and fanboys. So while you guys argue on the forums about why your phone is better and why Apple will fail, the general consumer (who doesn't know as much as you and likely doesn't care), will buy what's popular and whatever works for them, and currently it's either an iPhone or the S3/Note2.
Really (cough) t-mobile (cough). Apple's use of carrier exclusivity deals doesn't ring a bell? (Cough) China Mobile (cough) ring a bell? Apparently, Apple's clout stops at the US border.