This analyst is correct in everything he predicts and he is wrong for everything he leaves out.
This is my take on the situation.
Apple will remain the largest profit making vendor. For all the reasons stated above in the article and by many posters on this thread.
But the others aren’t going away.
They are all going to go to Android and it WILL dominate “marketshare”.
That will keep the dinosaurs alive, but never will they recover their profit margins.
Apple will continue to innovate and provide the top of the line must have experience.
Going off the ATT exclusive in a few months will only HELP Apple and HURT everyone else.
But cheap plastic Low End “smarter” phones will be dominated by all the rest and because of that be stuck with Android.
Just like the $150 junk Tablets at Kmart.
Apple will not even care about marketshare in terms of how many plastic virus laden screen falling off under powered low battery life knock offs out their choose to run Android.
Any more than they care about $199 PCs. Hasn’t effected them one bit. They don’t want to make crappy cheap products with a $10 mark up and that’s fine by me. I don’t want to be that junk either.
Your faith in Apple is greater than mine. They have been known to make stinkers in the past.
I believe Apple is making the same mistake in the mobile space that they made in the desktop space. Their cost premium and proprietary OS will be their ultimate undoing.