tech

Android dominant in two-horse smartphone race

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Not much shock there - one manufacturer for Apple phones, hundreds for Android phones.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Not sure, but surely it is the manufacturers and service providers who make money out of smartphones and not the operating system developers and owners..... Can someone explain?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The problem with iOS begins and ends with apple itself : too restrictive to the user. That, and outdated technology.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

@Kaerimashita

Not sure, but surely it is the manufacturers and service providers who make money out of smartphones and not the operating system developers and owners..... Can someone explain?

Google does not charge for Android. However, to install GMS (Google Mobile Services - think Gmail, Maps etc.) they need to obtain a licence. This is also issued free, but to actually get the certification (from a third party) for GMSs costs A LOT. I think it's somewhere in the vicinity of US$1 per device tested.

Android OEMs by and large make a loss on their Android devices. There are just too many licensing fees, on top of the manufacturing & other associated costs, for it to make any serious profits. Food for thought - did you know that Microsoft makes more money from Android royalties than its own Windows Phone?! THREE TIMES as much in fact! Microsoft charges OEMs US$5 for smartphones & $10 for tablets - that's every single Android device sold. That's something like ~$10m revenue PER DAY.

Apple, on the other hand, makes a killing. They make upwards of 40% margins on most of their products - including the iPhone of course. It's funny - experts scoffed at the software / hardware model at first, but now they're all trying to do it. Samsung will be dropping Android in the very near future for Tizen, for example.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The problem with iOS begins and ends with apple itself : too restrictive to the user.

That's a matter of opinion. I can't think of anything in particular I would like to do with my iphone that I cannot do now.

That, and outdated technology.

Say what?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Imagine you just woke up from a 10 year coma and read the headline. "What is this about robots sounding smarter than horses on the phone?"

0 ( +0 / -0 )

But interestingly, profitability on a per-phone basis is WAY higher for the iPhone. Mostly because unlike Android phones, the iPhone has a far more stable ecosystem, and iPhones have vastly better battery life per charge than most Android phones. That's why especially in North America, iPhones are extremely popular despite the premium pricing.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

That's why especially in North America, iPhones are extremely popular despite the premium pricing. no there popular in nth America because there an American tech company, battery life please!, I could name plenty of phone that match or are better than a Iphone battery. Just look at Apples market share outside the US, pathetic.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Raymond Chuang: That's why especially in North America, iPhones are extremely popular despite the premium pricing.

I thought it was marketing to kids and trendy folks. Like Joe Camel.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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