back to article Apple alert as half China's fanbois consider switch to Galaxy S4

It could be sweaty palm time at Cupertino after new research revealed that more than half of China’s loyal fanbois are thinking of switching their iPhones to a Samsung Galaxy S4, according to new data from market watcher TrendForce. The Taiwanese firm’s research arm Avanti interviewed a representative sample of 3,000 …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    And when the wind blows from another direction they all change their minds again.

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
      Trollface

      But it will be asian winds in all cases.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      A 3G wind?

      Isn't that why most people are thinking of switching, because Samsung will offer network support for 3G stuff and Apple won't.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: A 3G wind?

        Exactly. No iPhone supports China Mobile's version of 3G (TD-SCDMA) There are millions of iPhones purchased at full price used on that network at sluggish 2G (Edge only!) speeds, owned by people who are probably tired of seeing their friends zipping along at 3G speeds with 4G TD-LTE around the corner. If the next iPhone supports it, the numbers in this survey would undoubtedly change a lot. If they continue to not support China Mobile's standards, Apple will eventually lose a lot of those customers. Kind of a big deal on a carrier that has 3/4 of a BILLION customers!

        If Apple supports it and makes a deal with China Mobile, they will surely end up growing share in China. Right now, no one knows whether Apple's demands or China Mobile's demands are the holdup for why they have been talking for several years but never reached a deal. At some point someone will have to blink. Maybe the numbers in this survey will cause Apple to blink.

    3. James Micallef Silver badge
      Coat

      until wind guy gets really angry when his master is killed and inhales till he explodes

      1. Tel Starr
        Coat

        He'll be in big trouble if he does.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Luxury?

    Samsung S4, HTC One and the iPhone are all considered high end devices, but luxury items are a different kettle of fish.

    Luxury items cost more, are made with more expensive materials and have more of an exclusive feel to them in that not everyone has one.

    The S3/4 is made of plastic, pretty much free on a contract, costs less overall and everyone has one. It is a high end phone but it is not a luxury purchase.

    The HTC One and the iPhone actually fit the bill much better, being both high end and a luxury more exclusive phone.

    The S3/4 will eventually become what the Blackberry became, the Burberry Chav phone of the masses.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Luxury?

      So many people have iPhones, surely that is a chav phone? Albeit a small screened chav phone that comes with matching handbag.

      The fact the S4 will blow both the HTC One and iPhone away in sales proves one thing - quantity has it's own quality.

      1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

        Re: Luxury?

        The fact* the S4 will blow both the HTC One and iPhone away in sales proves one thing - quantity has it's own quality.

        *My emphasis.

        The fact eh? No fanboism here then... A few weeks after launch, it's now a fact that the Galaxy IV is going to beat the world's top-selling smartphone. You have decided, and the market will follow!

        I don't say it isn't possible, or even likely. Samsung joined the mobile market late, and hit number one in ten years. The SIII outsold the iPhone for one quarter, if I remember right. Although that was the quarter before a new iPhone was released. Let's see what the market does.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Luxury?

      > The S3/4 will eventually become what the Blackberry became, the Burberry Chav phone of the masses.

      The iPhone already is, that's what this article is about.

    3. imaginarynumber

      Re: Luxury?

      The most I ever paid for a phone was about £800, it was largely made of plastic and assembled by Samsung (on behalf of B&O).

      At £800 it was not a luxury phone where as at £15 000 I would assert that the Vertu is a luxury phone.

      How much does an iPhone cost, what percentage of the shell is titanium?

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Luxury?

      "The S3/4 will eventually become what the Blackberry became, the Burberry Chav phone of the masses"

      The iPhone IS the chav phone for the masses!

  3. Pen-y-gors

    Another dodgy survey?

    Surely it's only worth asking people who are about to get a new phone whether they're considering buying a particular model, rather than several thousand assorted Apple owners, some of whom presumably have only had their devices for a few months.

    I mean, I assume most sensible people keep a phone for three, four, five years before changing, and then they look around to decide what is best for them from the phones available at the time.

    Don't they? Or am I unusual?

    1. The lone lurker

      Re: Another dodgy survey?

      I think you might be in the minority there! Many people I know upgrade the same week the contract ends, If not before. Two of my friends are planning to buy themselves out of their contract early to get the S4 at a cost that exceeds what they would have paid to stay in the contract until end.

      I think mobile phones have stopped being mere tools quite some time ago. It's no longer about what is best for your circumstances but rather about how many pixels there are per square inch or the fact that it might be 12% thinner etc etc.

      1. Danny 14
        Stop

        damn percentages again!

        only 98% of analysts prefer 25% of statistics to be accessible by 50% of their produt base. That ensures that the 81% of results only has a 2% margin of error.

        (poll of 16 people taken at random out of a userbase of about 100 million)

        1. The lone lurker
          Thumb Up

          Re: damn percentages again!

          Lies, damned lies, and statistics!

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: damn percentages again!

            So the Reg is reporting a survey by a company which owns DRAMExchange, which as Samsung are facing a shortage DRAM chips right now, stands to gain from the fact they will have to go to the open market to buy DRAM chips for every additional S4 sold. No conflict there then.

            1. Esskay
              Facepalm

              Re: damn percentages again!

              A longer bow has ne'er been drawn.

              I honestly hope you had that information at hand, and didn't spend hours trawling the net for it.

              I suppose 9/11 was a Samsung cover-up too?

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: damn percentages again!

                DRAM-Exchange make money from the sale of the very chips Samsung need right now and is expected to sell in volumes of multiple millions. So you don't think it's a clear conflict issuing reports on said device? You don't think there is a substantial chance this ranks as one of the many, many instances of commercially influenced "reports" to be found out in the wild west of veracity otherwise known as the Internet. Right OK. I have here a leprechaun I need to sell.

                1. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  Re: damn percentages again!

                  We should always be wary of multi-faceted research firms who have any business interests or objectives other than the drive to conduct the best surveys possible. Forrester and Gartner have no such other interests precisely for this reason.

        2. N13L5

          Re: damn percentages again!

          Your point?

          An unqualified 'all statistics are faked' statement...?

      2. MrXavia
        WTF?

        Re: Another dodgy survey?

        Why buy yourself out of a contract to tie yourself into a new one? just BUY the bloody phone, it is cheaper usually in the long run (although i am only getting the s4 phone half way through a contract because my little boy decided my phone needed to hit a concrete floor at high velocity....)

    2. Chet Mannly

      Re: Another dodgy survey?

      "I assume most sensible people keep a phone for three, four, five years before changing,"

      Actually most people get their phone on a contract - so after 1-2 years they flick it for a newer shiny model.

      I buy outright as well, but we're in the minority...

      1. Rampant Spaniel

        Re: Patients?

        Just out of interest, those that buy your own (I used to sometimes in the UK, now live in the US) do you find any annoying limits on payg services? I was looking at doing this again but I found that (unsurprisingly) the celcos hamstring payg plans with stuff like no off network roaming , crap support, more expensive data etc. Just curious if you found the same if you are in the US? thanks!

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Another dodgy survey?

        USA != home of "most" consumers.

        UK != home of "most" consumers.

        You need to get out a bit or qualify your comment somehow so that it might at least be possibly true

        1. Rampant Spaniel

          Re: Another dodgy survey?

          True, but then you have to qualify it by the amount of money people have to spend on luxuries and how sane they are as so whether they will go without something they need to buy an iphone 5 or whatever. The latter is probably a wash between east and west, on the former the US and Europe have more disposable income to spend, at least for now. 20 years in the future I don't doubt the picture could be very different as China ends up with the volume and the money.

  4. K

    so expect

    a new iPhone to be announced this September a 5.3" in 16:9 ratio, with a 1280x1920px screen... sporting the same old crappy-locked-in-piece-of-crap-os.

    Yawn!

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Chairo

        Re: iDevice died a long time ago for me

        I bought the iPhone 3G and got nicked "sorry iOS 4.x not supported"

        I went into the same trap. Well, technically IOS was "supported" until 4.1.2, but after 4.0 the phone became a slow and unstable pig.

    2. Jon Massey
      Headmaster

      Re: so expect

      Since when is 1280x1920 a 16:9 ratio? Learn to maths

      1. Gio Ciampa

        Re: so expect

        The pixels might not be square?

      2. This post has been deleted by its author

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: so expect

        He/she never said square pixels!

        1. Rukario
          Angel

          Re: so expect

          > He/she never said square pixels!

          They've got rounded corners!

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: so expect

      Non square pixels - not very common on displays but you ever know OR maybe you meant 3:2 ratio OR maybe you meant 1920x1080

      (I know, I am still trying to find someone who likes a smart arse)

  5. Phil Atkin

    In China all software is free

    It's cultural - piracy is 100% the norm, and it's way easier to get pirate software onto Android than iOS. Hence the desire to get onto the best Android phone, Makes perfect sense.

    1. Danny 14

      Re: In China all software is free

      piracy is not the same as wanting software for free. Wanting software for free is the norm, hence the massive rise of in app payment.

      1. t.est

        Re: In China all software is free

        "Wanting stuff for free" is a cancer.

        People should want to make one self worthy of something. That doesn't mean paying overprices to someone who want's to benefit on such people. But people who just want's everything for free without investing anything are the people who will be behind the biggest crises we yet will have to endure on this planet.

        It's greed at it's peak.

  6. Martin Huizing
    Go

    Sammie knows how to advertise. Secretely hinting to Apple FB's:

    "The grass is greener...

    on the other site."

    1. Dire Criti¢

      Re: Sammie knows how to advertise. Secretely hinting to Apple FB's:

      "The grass is greener..."

      That would be the OLED screen then?

      Damn, those Samsungs have hideously garish screens...especially the greens!

      Disclaimer: Comment is expressed by an HTC fanbois.

  7. JaitcH
    Happy

    Apple doesn't think 'Chinese', Samsung does

    There is a certain amount of resentment in China about things American (continual war, Spratly Islands, etc) and Samsung is in a good position to exploit this.

    Not only that, Samsung knows how the Chinese mind works.

    Take multiple SIM phones. The West questions the need for multi-SIM phones but there has always been a market for the oddball/ecentric accessories in China. A multi-SIM phone user typically has one SIM for regular use, another for family and yet another for the Spare Tyre/Tire (girlfriend) - all active at the same time.

    Apple would most likely have a moral fit, if it thought some features were being used for extra-marital affairs or placing bets.

    Farmers frequently carry basic smartphones so they can monitor market prices, as do other resource suppliers. They might not have running water or main electricity in their basic houses but they will never give up their solar powered cell phones.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Apple doesn't think 'Chinese', Samsung does

      I would love a multi-sim phone... especially if both were active to receive at once...

      There is a need for one reason, signal coverage...

      I need two sims with me, because if I can't get a signal with one, I can with the other...

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The plebs are starting to catch up!

    I've been saying it for years, the iFase is over before it begun.

    Similarly the iFad is being outsold by other tablets.

    The whole "premium/quality" bollox is exactley that, bollox.

    Apple is like rock music, loved last decade, loathed by the majority now.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Obviously, obviously

      Obviously, the facts on the ground would obviously seem to disagree with your obviously wishful "hater" thinking.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "The plebs are starting to catch up!

      I've been saying it for years, the iFase is over before it begun(sic)"

      You have been saying many things for years, and it would be better if you hadn't. On the rare occasions that anyone can actually work out what you're trying to say, it is seldom worth the effort, or actively offensive.

  9. buggane

    big screen

    I'm just back from Hong Kong. On a trip on the MTR or underground it is striking just how common big screen Samsung phones are. And also how many Grans are using iPhone 4s. It seems the move to Samsungs is well under way and the grandmothers are benefiting from the hand-me-down iPhones...

  10. Andrew Moore

    It's happening here as well...

    3 of my friends, who have had iPhones for years, all changed to the S4 rather than go for the iPhone 5.

    1. Philip Lewis
      Paris Hilton

      Re: It's happening here as well...

      casual empiricism at its best*

      *worst depending on viewpoint

  11. Jason Hindle

    Not bad....

    Samsung's marketing have done well, bearing in mind the S4 is hardly an earth shattering upgrade to the S3.

    1. thesykes

      Re: Not bad....

      Minor tweaks to hardware specs have hardly done Apple any harm over the years....

      1. Darryl

        Re: Not bad....

        Great. You had to point that out, didn't you? Now Apple will sue Samsung for blatantly copying their upgrade cycle of minor tweaks to hardware.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I know many people who have moved away from iPhone to Android, people who were massive fanbois. The reason? Aside from a higher price tag each time and some gimmicks (and often faults), the iPhone itself seems no different than it was in 07' because it is exactly the same non-customisable tiled interface. The 'intuitive' (as they say) nature of it only applies while you are learning to use it and quickly becomes irrelevant once you realise there is no more to it than what you see.

    It's a similar story with OSX on Mac, except OSX has the benefit of being beneficial to certain users (you know who I mean, Mr 'I can only do my graphic design on a Mac'). In phone terms people will put up with the dodgy apps and malware in order to have some control over what they see and do rather than Cupertino calling all the shots.

  13. Alan Denman

    and the other 47.6% ?

    Maybe they are considering the HTC One.

    And so a win for Samsung, but only just

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