Replies

I actually disagree with this analysis. The author is failing to see that Android has become a very mature platform and that people are flocking to it in droves. The same forces that pushed Apple so fast are clearly at work over recent months in pushing people to Android. It’s the OS that is becoming important, not the manufacturer. This author makes the same mistake that happened during the Apple/Microsoft battles of the 80s. Apple had the major share of the business market with their hardware, but Microsoft won with their OS. The hardware manufacturer is irrelevant so long as devices are “cool” or “unique”.

". . . so long as devices are “cool” or “unique”."

I am using US Cellular for my carrier because in my neck of the woods, they have the best signal.

On August 27th, I'm picking up two HTC "Desire" units; one for myself and one for my daughter. They are cool, unique, Android based...and inexpensive for what you get.

So there!

It’s the OS that is becoming important, not the manufacturer.

I think you'll see RIM and Nokia slip even more because of Android. Don't expect an appreciable effect on Apple any time soon. Apple has locked in hundreds of thousands of developers, many of whom will also offer Android versions, but are unlikely to leave iOS.

Apple had the major share of the business market with their hardware

Apple never had the major share of the business market. Apple didn't even have the major share of the pre-PC general market, and then the PC beat the Apple II within a couple years of introduction in the early 80s. Macs never had close to the marketshare of the PCs.

The hardware manufacturer is irrelevant so long as devices are “cool” or “unique”.

That seems to be everybody's problem. Apple hardware is usually deemed to be cool by the buying public. Other manufacturers try to create cool, but the public rarely accepts it. Just look at the latest crop of smartphones. They all pretty much look the same except for the iPhone. With Apple's recent exclusive licensing of LiquidMetal's moldable alloys, I expect the trend to continue.

Apple had the major share of the business market with their hardware, but Microsoft won with their OS.

Excuse me, that is revisionist history. Apple NEVER had the major share of the business market with their hardware. NEVER. Business was on Mainframes... and MINI computers... made by IBM and DEC and Honeywell and SPERRY... and other companies not Apple. They went with what they knew. And IBM came out with a desktop microcomputer and buyers bought what they knew. IBM. Which happened to have a Disk Operating System bought essentially off the shelf from a little known company called Microsoft.