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jamezr

macrumors P6
Original poster
Aug 7, 2011
16,078
19,077
US
Not necessarily, as is already proven by the current state of the mobile industry. Abazigal was spot on with this post.



Forgive me if I'm mistaken--it's late, I'm about to turn in and don't feel like researching the numbers--but IIRC, doesn't Apple make more profit from the iPhone than the result of the mobile industry combined (or close to it)? If that truly is the case, there's all the proof you need that increased sales aren't always a good thing.

Apple would likely have to aggressively price the iPhone to see a significant bump in sales vs. Android, something that could see greater market share but kill their margins. I think ultimately, just about any company would take higher profits first and foremost.
You have sine good points tbayrgs. But doesn't that position also lead to slow features being added? Doesn't that lead to stagnant feature adoption? I mean they make more profit than anyone else. So they can add feature slowly without fear if losing their sales base. You say they don't need more sales and they already make insane profits. So then they have no other goal then to make more insane profits?

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No profits are, look at the profit margin on most of the cheap phones sold, hint there isn't any.
I was talking about Apple says.
i think you contradict yourself. You have to have sales to make profit. Profit does not come unless you have sales. So why would Apple not want more sales?
 

Abazigal

Contributor
Jul 18, 2011
20,395
23,899
Singapore
Why not? Isn't more sales a good thing?


Not when more sales comes at the expense of lower profits.

Market share is the means, profit is the end. All the market share in the world is useless if it doesn't let you turn a meaningful profit.
 

The-Real-Deal82

macrumors P6
Jan 17, 2013
17,317
25,469
Wales, United Kingdom
I have the quick and accurate answer to the thread. When Apple decide to compete in all budget sectors rather than purely at the high end. If Apple sold £10 handsets like Samsung do, they would increase their outreach. They would also achieve wider results of their sold iOS to other manufactures on license. This isn't going to happen and would devalue the iPhone brand IMO.

Until they do this they will never catch Android in terms of overall sales. Do they need to catch up is another question. Absolutely not, profits are high, sales are strong and they are aiming at the right end of the market I believe.

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It will never be able to match let alone beat the market share Android has, also it won't ever be able to match the innovation of Android because Apple is one company, Android has so many different OEM's and Google themselves all coming up with alternative innovations, and most importantly, choice. And you can clearly see choice being more successful by the way Apple has copied some of that innovation due to market pressure like phablets.

Innovation is only seen at the high end of the Android market however. A good chunk of the market contains budget devices that ship with 3 year old Android editions because of hardware restraints. It's never as easy as comparing directly because of the sheer volume of devices available.
 

Abazigal

Contributor
Jul 18, 2011
20,395
23,899
Singapore
You have sine good points tbayrgs. But doesn't that position also lead to slow features being added? Doesn't that lead to stagnant feature adoption? I mean they make more profit than anyone else. So they can add feature slowly without fear if losing their sales base. You say they don't need more sales and they already make insane profits. So then they have no other goal then to make more insane profits?

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I was talking about Apple says.
i think you contradict yourself. You have to have sales to make profit. Profit does not come unless you have sales. So why would Apple not want more sales?

Apple profits from the sales of hardware, which in turn means that they have every incentive to keep me, the consumer, happy so that I will continue to buy their products and subscribe to their services.

And Apple does this in many ways, from their superb customer service, to the great user experience that comes from their integrated ecosystem.

Apple products look great and work great and have more than paid for themselves in the form of improved productivity and fewer problems. And people still wonder when Apple will be doomed or why they are enjoying the sales they are?
 

I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
35,160
25,275
Gotta be in it to win it
Apple profits from the sales of hardware, which in turn means that they have every incentive to keep me, the consumer, happy so that I will continue to buy their products and subscribe to their services.

And Apple does this in many ways, from their superb customer service, to the great user experience that comes from their integrated ecosystem.

Apple products look great and work great and have more than paid for themselves in the form of improved productivity and fewer problems. And people still wonder when Apple will be doomed or why they are enjoying the sales they are?

The keyword in the post you quoted was stagnant. Is Apple stagnant? I don't think so; look at the new features of iOS 8. And I mentioned in another thread, the news about IBM cloud service and the health app; far ranging impact which Samsung / android is yet to aspire to. Google wants android to do what windows does, while Apple want iOS to integrate with your lifestyle. Different philosophies.
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Original poster
Aug 7, 2011
16,078
19,077
US
You are correct. Apple is behind android in sales but raking in the bucks, while android is leading in sales but the big players are fighting for the crumbs.
Its funny to see you change your position. Because you and others have harped on sales being the deciding factor is a products success in multiple threads here on MR. You only changed to profit once i presented the sales metrics to you. :)
 

I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
35,160
25,275
Gotta be in it to win it
Its funny to see you change your position. Because you and others have harped on sales being the deciding factor is a products success in multiple threads here on MR. You only changed to profit once i presented the sales metrics to you. :)

Nope I am agreeing with you and now you are just making this up. Somehow I think your position has changed.

Sales are critical to the survival of most for profit companies. The key factor is without sales, no revenue, no profit.
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Original poster
Aug 7, 2011
16,078
19,077
US
Nope I am agreeing with you and now you are just making this up. Somehow I think your position has changed.

Sales are critical to the survival of most for profit companies. The key factor is without sales, no revenue, no profit.
LOL....really you have said in so many threads here on MR that sales is king and the measuring stick to go by. You have boasted and alluded to given the fact the iPhone out sell any other phone sales wise that sales is the defining factor. Then when presented with sales metrics you change your tune to profit. You have done this in multiple threads here on MR. You denying it is laughable.....
 

AustinIllini

macrumors G5
Oct 20, 2011
12,699
10,567
Austin, TX
LOL....really you have said in so many threads here on MR that sales is king and the measuring stick to go by. You have boasted and alluded to given the fact the iPhone out sell any other phone sales wise that sales is the defining factor. Then when presented with sales metrics you change your tune to profit. You have done this in multiple threads here on MR. You denying it is laughable.....

The $$$ is always king. Market share is only important as far as it keeps your platform relevant.
 

apolloa

Suspended
Oct 21, 2008
12,318
7,802
Time, because it rules EVERYTHING!
Huh? All u did was reinforce what I said. Google reaps the overall benefits. I understand hardware profits. If u buy an app, song, game, movie, ringtone, etc from the play store what percentage does the oem like Samsung/htc/lg get? If it's anything it's not as much as Apple. and again because you can get that app on multiple android models from different oems, it becomes a competition within android oems. Apple offers a truly unique experience.

I'm not making arguments for tizen I'm saying Samsung wants the model Apple has. Unique os with its own App Store they can benefit from.

OEM's I doubt get any money from Google app store purchases unless the app stores is theirs. Apple doesn't offer anything different to a Google Nexus. I don't see them offering any sort of unique experience myself.
Fair point though that Samsung want to copy Apple's business plan, but they will find it hard I think.

Actually every year Open Signal has a report on the number of different models that use it's app. The 4000 model number is from 2012. Last report was 18,000. or so different model numbers.
http://opensignal.com/reports/2014/android-fragmentation/

18,000, hmm seems a bit unrealistic to me. But whatever.
 

bobenhaus

macrumors 65816
Mar 2, 2011
1,030
491
You are correct. Apple is behind android in sales but raking in the bucks, while android is leading in sales but the big players are fighting for the crumbs.

Yeah but the problem here is that customers could care less who is ranking in the money. The question is will Apple ever outsell Android Devices?

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Its funny to see you change your position. Because you and others have harped on sales being the deciding factor is a products success in multiple threads here on MR. You only changed to profit once i presented the sales metrics to you. :)

Yup the facts are that Android outsell iOS by a big market, and profits always have to get inserted into this argument when it is not relevant at all

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The $$$ is always king. Market share is only important as far as it keeps your platform relevant.

False. Market Share create other companies and also create jobs. Most likely you have a job because of Microsoft at one point or another in your career of choices. I know I have a job because of Microsoft and Not because of Apple..
 

GadgetSN

macrumors 6502
Sep 7, 2014
376
121
Its funny when I see these 70+% numbers for Android yet see about 80+% of people in public whether on the daily commute, street, shopping centre etc sporting an iPhone. Even in my work place most people own an iPhone.

Seriously, where are all these 70+% of Android phones?
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Original poster
Aug 7, 2011
16,078
19,077
US
Yeah but the problem here is that customers could care less who is ranking in the money. The question is will Apple ever outsell Android Devices?

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Yup the facts are that Android outsell iOS by a big market, and profits always have to get inserted into this argument when it is not relevant at all
Exactly...profit a company makes does not enter intot he buying decision. It comes down to the feature a products has and it it will fill the consumers needs and wants.
but.....some here are proud of being overcharged.
 

bobenhaus

macrumors 65816
Mar 2, 2011
1,030
491
Its funny when I see these 70+% numbers for Android yet see about 80+% of people in public whether on the daily commute, street, shopping centre etc sporting an iPhone. Even in my work place most people own an iPhone.

Seriously, where are all these 70+% of Android phones?

Thats because your mind is looking for iPhone unconsciously. its called selected observation. For example I own a Prius and that's what I see all day long since I got the car.
 

Truefan31

macrumors 68040
Aug 25, 2012
3,589
835
Exactly...profit a company makes does not enter intot he buying decision. It comes down to the feature a products has and it it will fill the consumers needs and wants.

but.....some here are proud of being overcharged.


Being overcharged is subjective. It can go both ways.

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Its funny when I see these 70+% numbers for Android yet see about 80+% of people in public whether on the daily commute, street, shopping centre etc sporting an iPhone. Even in my work place most people own an iPhone.



Seriously, where are all these 70+% of Android phones?


Are u in the us? Then I would understand
 

GadgetSN

macrumors 6502
Sep 7, 2014
376
121
Thats because your mind is looking for iPhone unconsciously. its called selected observation. For example I own a Prius and that's what I see all day long since I got the car.

No its because most people I see own an iPhone. 99% of females I see/know definitely own an iPhone.

I expect most of the Android numbers come from poorer countries where the population cannot afford to drop a few months/years wages on a phone.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,392
19,461
Why not? Isn't more sales a good thing?
In that case we might as well ask why isn't Apple isn't catching up to Coca Cola sales.

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No its because most people I see own an iPhone. 99% of females I see/know definitely own an iPhone.

I expect most of the Android numbers come from poorer countries where the population cannot afford to drop a few months/years wages on a phone.

I see many people with Android phones. I can't quite a put a ratio on it really, sometimes I see more iPhones, other times I see more Android phones. Aside from smaller groups, where the statistics aren't meaningful anyway, rarely do I see almost just one or the other.
 

Abazigal

Contributor
Jul 18, 2011
20,395
23,899
Singapore
Yeah but the problem here is that customers could care less who is ranking in the money. The question is will Apple ever outsell Android Devices?

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Yup the facts are that Android outsell iOS by a big market, and profits always have to get inserted into this argument when it is not relevant at all

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False. Market Share create other companies and also create jobs. Most likely you have a job because of Microsoft at one point or another in your career of choices. I know I have a job because of Microsoft and Not because of Apple..

And my answer to that has and always will be the same - you and I know very well that iPhones will never outsell Android smartphones collectively, but that doesn't really matter, because at the end of the day, Apple still rakes in the bulk of the industry's profits, and users benefit because apps and accessories will continue to be developed for the more lucrative platform, not the platform with the larger market share.

You can claim that profits are irrelevant, but how is market share any more relevant in this case? If you want me to stop mentioning profits, then you and everyone else should stop mentioning market share as well. Because to me, the irony of the argument is that market share is even less relevant than profits when it comes to determining the success of the respective platforms!
 
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