US smartphones – Once you’ve had Android there’s no going back

Android

Android is shaping up to be THE smartphone platform. I for one welcome it. It's a well designed and open platform that is going to usher in a new age of computing. Anything that's bad for Microsoft is good for everyone else!

You almost had me...

... until the line about "the same way that there was no going back once everyone had a PC with Word, Powerpoint and Excel on it".

WTF??

Mine's the one with the Nexus Two prototype in the pocket.

I want to

Run Android on my iPhone 4. Then I will be happy.

I've not had good times with Android. It's frustrating to see operators and handset makers raping it for their own good. Keep it standard android and keep everything in line with each other. Stop being a bunch of nonces! THEN I might get an Android phone

Makes me want to gleefully say....

"Suck it Apple!"

The Android growth line (if it holds) is appears to be worse than when Steve got pwned by Windows. Of course the Google twins aren't nearly as uber cool as Bill G was. Does anyone else ever ponder if Sergey and Larry tap fists and exlaim "Wonder Twin Powers Activate!"

In the UK you can get Android for £110 pay as you go

Orange is selling Android (San Francisco) 2.1 fro about £110. You could unlock in 3 months of purchase and put on a Sim only plan. It has a small RAM so will be stuck on 2.1 but is a good tester into the market.

Will do exchange email.

It's not all about units shipped

I suspect the outcome of the Android and iOS 'battle' will be similar to the Mac and PC world.

Android is cheap and good enough for most people. The numbers of people buying the top end Android phones is similar to the new GFX card every 6 weeks hard core gamers to the PC world. Frankly small and insignificant (in more ways than one on the gamer side!).

While Android devices soak up the mass market; those willing to spend a bit more for a better overall experience will continue to go with the iPhone. As a platform, OSX only has about 8-10% of the OS market, but in terms of computer makers, is third only to HP and Dell (http://www.idc.com/about/viewpressrelease.jsp?containerId=prUS22531110). More importantly, of purchases over $1000, Apple apparently takes 90% of the revenue according to research in June 2009 (since which Apple have seen a surge in Mac demand, but anyway, the link is here: http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/Apple-has-91-of-market-for-1000-PCs-says-NPD/1248313624).

So, relatively low market share, yet pretty big profits. I'll take that over raw shipment figures any day.

And the same thing can be seen in mobile here:

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/09/21/pie-chart-apples-outrageous-share-of-the-mobile-industrys-profits/

and here:

http://www.asymco.com/2010/10/31/making-it-up-in-volume-how-to-view-unit-profitability-vs-volume-in-handsets/

and here:

http://www.asymco.com/2010/11/03/how-much-profit-did-vendors-capture-from-android-powered-phones/

So, there's no doubt Android is doing well; but I don't think Apple are too worried just yet.

Don't you just love Apple owners?

Are they the only consumers in the world proud to point out that the company they love makes huge profits from a relatively small market share?

That the only way to do so is it to make huge profits on each item they sell?

That every time they buy the kit, they are being massively over-charged? Ripped-off?

Apple must laugh every time someone posts how fantastic they are for robbing their own customers blind.

Well, size does matter

There have been lots of articles over the years about how the US lags behind other countries in this or that cell technology or adoption rate. One thing that I seldom see cited in these comparisons is the sheer difference in geographical size between the US and, say, the UK, or Japan.

It takes far less time, equipment and money to roll out a technology in smaller countries, particularly ones in which urban areas are more densely concentrated. I don't think it's reasonable to expect the nationwide carriers in a country this large to rip out and replace their entire infrastructure every couple of years.

Really surprised?

A good part of the iPhone's success is similar to the iPod's success ... a nice touchscreen phone that's actually easy to use and looks nice. However, it is expensive.

For those only searching for a phone with a lot of features and a nice interface, Android does seem to be a cheaper alternative that fulfills most of their expectations. Hell, even the Nokia Xpressmusic running Symbian fulfills some of these users' expectations! It is no real surprise that Android handsets are now robbing the iPhone from its target market.

The Blackberry marketshare has been mostly static in the US, though here in Mexico I have seen the 'berries gain ground among first-time smartphone users. I think that BB Messenger and heavy marketing on behalf of both RIM and carriers (as BIS contracts mean more $$$ to them) are the main drive behind BB adoption.

The greatest loser in the smartphone wars is actually WinMo; HTC users are switching to the Android-powered HTC's, while other smartphone users are simply jumping to Android because they fulfill what they wanted and have no need for RDP/Exchange stuff.

Finally, Symbian might still march on, if only because some of the Nokia handsets carry it and so some users not specifically searching for a smartphone will have a Symbian handset without knowing it.

Funny take on this whole thing

http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/04/iphone-android-blackberry/

Android Hell?

My HTC Android phone came with more crapware than a PC-World Windows Machine. It ran like a dog, was erratic in its behaviour and failed completely after 12 days.

I sent it back and broke the contract with O2 under the sale of goods act.

I went next door and bought a recon Iphone 3Gs.

As much as I would prefer to use and Android but AFAIK, it don't hold a candle to the iPhone. YET

It will in time. When? I'm not sure but the bar that Apple has set is pretty high. My guess (An there will be many here that will disagree here) is that in a 12/18 Months it will be better then the iPhone.

As for Windows? Sorry Microsoft you are late once again.

My biggest fear is the probable amounts of Malware that will be directed towards the Android Platform. Its very openness is its very biggest weakness.

Rant over, back to hacking Evnice.

I hope this is US only

Americans have weird tastes, when can we expect a Sarah Palin-branded Android phone? There is already a Hello Kitty one...

What do you have to believe for an Android dominated future?

Might want to read this before you make a comment. Shows that Android simply absorbed the Windows Mobile (Horizontal Market) market and has made no gains on the iPhone, RIMM or Nokia (Vertical) smartphones.

What do you have to believe for an Android dominated future?

http://www.asymco.com/2010/11/03/what-do-you-have-to-believe-for-an-android-dominated-future/comment-page-1/#comment-6987

Wait and see

"But if those graphs continue, and we cannot see anything much getting in their way, then Android will rule for many prosperous years. What happens then to Apple and RIM are anyone’s guess."

So having opened with a remark about the glacial rate of change in this market, you then want us to extrapolate based on 12 months of data for the period immediately following the android launch. I imagine if you'd plotted the same graphs a few years ago, you have concluded that there'd be three and a half iPhones for every man woman and child on the planet by now.

Let me be clear. *I* can't see what will get in Android's way either, but that's because it isn't my job. Talk to someone in Apple's R&D department. I bet they have some pretty good ideas about what will "get in the way".

iPhone users are gimps...

... seriously, Apple's offering is the phone equivalent of a rubber gimp suit. That became clear to me the first time I suffered someone telling me how they could instantly tell what the weather was like in a major city six time zones away.

I have an unlocked HTC Desire, because buying a phone on credit is stupid and because I don't want my service provider frigging up my phone with branding, disabled functionality and other poo. I just want them to give me internet access and stand aside. The rough edges don't worry me and the wifi tethering function is just so nice.

I like my Crackberry

I had an HTC touchscreen (Mogul) and it never really worked for me. At contract renewal, I got a low-end BlackBerry and it does absolutely everything I want a phone to do.

Your mileage may vary depending on your needs./.desires.

Mystic Meg's Mobile Choice

Unless the general public have been zapped by cluons and have an unusually deep understanding of the technology they use there's some other reason than Android being "open" which is driving uptake, and that's likely hype and peer pressure as it normally is for the latest 'must have' fad.

Android will likely outlast Tamagotchas, Pokemon and Cabbage Patch Dolls but I wouldn't like to bet money on where we'll be in a couple of years time. I don't believe it will herald the defeat of the other players, but will bring a balancing of market share.

Then again, I've never been expert at predictions which boil down to end-users' apparent insatiable desires to run "Fart Apps".

iPhone 4 user here....

Honestly, I don't see what the big fucking hate deal is on this.

Android devices are beautiful...here in Canada, we don't have a plethora of selection yet (it was pretty bad when I got my iP4 - stuck on Rogers due to work, and there was 1 whole crappy Android based handset available at the time.

Even today, to a point...the Galaxy X Captivate & Focus are available, but more than I spent on the iP4...Sony has the X10's, HTC the Magic Touch. Of them, the Galaxy X Captivate is the only one I would consider switching to.

On the other side...I don't love my iP4, but I don't hate it either. The "Walled Garden" doesn't bother me...mostly because I really just don't care whether or not I have root access on my phone. If I really cared about the walled garden, I'd jailbreak.

What it comes down to for me...I hated Blackberry when I had one...and bought myself an iP3g a couple years ago when there was no Android and I wanted a device that would stop be from buying a new phone, new standalone GPS and new MP3 player...I wanted one device that would do it all, and that is what I still have in my iP4.

I won't buy a new device for a couple of years to come...because the cost to buy a no-contract phone far outweighs any possible advantage Android can bring to me. Until I'm eligible to upgrade again, my iP4 works fine.

Honestly, I see the Andriod as the PC and the iDevice as the Mac...Android will win on market share without a doubt, but Apple won't go away either. And honestly, who gives a shit anyway? Use the device you like...and let everyone else use what they like too.