“Capitalism at its best.”
Agreed.
“Do you want a Porsche, BMW, Ford or a Skoda? Apple is more like a Porsche, Samsung BMW, with other Android devices available for dirt.”
If your BMW can’t produce cars at a profit, the future doesn’t bode well.
“Android provides more price points for products allowing people to buy what they can afford.”
Agreed.
“This doesn’t worry Google and I disagree with some of the analysis.”
Google doesn’t have much to lose.
“Long term it might be difficult for people to justify the cost of an Apple device, 99% of desired features will be available in a cheap device - which will be Android based.”
That does presume a static world, unguarded by new patents.
“I’m an Android guy, I don’t believe the Apple premium is worth it - especially considering the “walled garden” they keep you in.”
It is insignificant to me and most. Perhaps you are doing sophisticated things that are unattainable in the Apple system?
“If you’re ok with the costs then Apple does provide a better unified experience across devices/technologies. I love my S5 and don’t want to be trapped in (and controlled by) a proprietary Apple world.”
I focus on value. Cost is not a big deal to us, fortunately. I want it to work and not be vulnerable to malware in all its forms. And be beautiful and effective. It does all that for us.
What are you doing with your S5 (if you don’t mind my asking) that you would be unable to do with an iPhone? What would be missing that would alter your world dramatically?
I’m fine with people using all the different phones - even the MS Monster. Competition makes everyone better... at least the survivors.
Well, for Android device makers, there’s going to be profits, I don’t think that is in question - just how much (we’re still talking about a lot of money). I don’t see it as any different than any other market. Android isn’t going away, it’s also doing a lot more than phones (cars, TV’s, watches, etc.). Google makes loads from application sales as well.
On patents, I agree, although that is Apple’s biggest challenge - to continuously come up with big ideas and execute on them. All electronic gadgets become a commodity at some point. Of course Google has their own patents too. I’m guessing that these recent profits are because of bigger screens, everyone with an iPhone probably wanted that. So we’ll see if the sales numbers continue or wane.
Cost is not insignificant to most, although it is insignificant to people that can (truly) afford Apple products. It’s the same reason every higher end vehicle has specific support for Apple products - the owners all have iPhones (almost exclusively). Cheap cars not so much.
My background is embedded software engineering. I work on automotive projects (infotainment systems). I have to deal with a lot of open standards. I HAVE to support Apple products. It’s like supporting the same features twice, once for open standards and once for Apple stuff. Apple is difficult to work with, lots of NDA’s/red tape type issues. I like the fact that I can grab a Windows/Linux machine and develop an Android application, along with developing it on any generic (cheap) Android device. Android is very friendly with other devices, like projecting on my LG TV, being a DLNA controller of my home media servers, etc. - no extra devices needed, all free software based on open standards. To write an iPhone app I’d have to buy a Mac first...no thanks, I’m not going to spend an extra grand for the same hardware. This is what they do, it is what they’ve always done. Control the HW/SW and entire ecosystem...and charge a premium for it. I can do the same for much less, even if it isn’t quite as polished.
It’s somewhat a personal thing, I refuse to give them my money partly because of the annoyances they cause me for work!! There’s probably nothing, from a user perspective, that I couldn’t do with Apple products. Although I could argue the opposite, that there’s nothing that an iPhone can do that I can’t do on Android, at least that matters to me - so why pay more for it? It really adds up when you want to develop for it or inter-operate with other devices.
From a technical perspective, I love being able to have the OS source code, dig into it - it’s a form of freedom. If we have a bug we don’t have to wait for Apple. I can extend it, improve it, submit back to Google (free engineer time for them). From a security point of view, Apple is not immune and Android is not as bad as some make out. Newer versions utilize SELinux technologies and in general it is solid. Any device is vulnerable, how many of those iPhone software updates fix security issues (they never tell you about)? I get to hear about Android ones, very quietly from Google, but it is harder to keep quiet because it’s open source.
I’d never say Apple products are crap, that would be dumb, although it is the same to say that of Android. Most people have no idea just how complex these things are and the engineering effort required to bring them to market. They’re brilliant.