Don't get that part. I live in Europe and sure a lot of people has an iPhone but I believe strongly that more people have an Android.
Doesn't Android have like 80% or more of the world market?
His overall point is that while iOS has a strong lock-in effect for people already on the platform, in China the real platform is WeChat, so the iOS monopoly isn't as useful.
The article does not assert that Apple has a monopoly on smartphones.
> Moreover, the advantages go beyond margins: the best way to understand both Apple’s profits and many of its choices is to understand that the company has a monopoly on not just MacOS but even more importantly iOS. That means Apple can not only capture consumer surplus on hardware, but developer surplus when it comes to app sales; that some apps are not made is deadweight loss that Apple has chosen to bear to ensure total control.
If you go by people, Android has more market share. If you go by profit, iOS has more market share. https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/07/apple-global-smartphone...
> None of that lock-in exists in China
This is true. If all your friends and family use iMessage and PhotoStream, then once you start using that too it creates lock-in specifically tied to software that only runs on Apple devices.
As an example, all my family use iPhones. We use PhotoStream to share pictures of family events and children and the like. If I were to switch to Android then I would lose all of that interaction, and so it's a big driver in keeping me (and other family members) on iOS.
Contrast this with China, where even on Apple devices, people generally use WeChat for doing that, rather than the Apple equivalent. WeChat also runs on Android and so you can happily switch platforms and you'll still have access to your same WeChat account with everything there.
There's always Flickr, Facebook &c. Many folks in my family use iCloud or PhotoStream or whatever it's called, and it does mean that I'm cut out of seeing those updates (because Apple are apparently unable to design a cross-platform webpage displaying pictures and text, in 2017), but I just don't care: I'd rather live without the restrictions of iOS and have the (relative) freedom and flexibility of an Android device.
I don't use Facebook. Privacy concerns are another reason why I use iOS over Android.
I can see from your site you've been around for a long time, but that still doesn't help ward of fears about future acquisition.
And even if you could convince me, then you'd also need to convince all my family to pay for something that they currently get for free.
The lock-is effect for Apple products is strong.
That said, after looking at your site, I'll definitely keep you guys tucked away in the back of my mind if I ever decide to move of iOS.
might move that up to #2 point. add in no creepy facebook like face features storing (worded better) to drive home the point
May this is how some peoples from USA see Apple ?
But here in EU Apple is just another smartphone vendor and most peoples are using Android.
> Moreover, the advantages go beyond margins: the best way to understand both Apple’s profits and many of its choices is to understand that the company has a monopoly on not just MacOS but even more importantly iOS. That means Apple can not only capture consumer surplus on hardware, but developer surplus when it comes to app sales; that some apps are not made is deadweight loss that Apple has chosen to bear to ensure total control.
But on English speaking websites the majority of users will be Americans, unless the sites have a very specific, localized audience (say, an Australian or Canadian newspaper). As a result many news will focus the American audience. One quick way to check this is to look for specific cues, for example: "the President" instead of "the U.S. president", "the nation" instead of "the American nation", etc.
In Germany, where are reside they're indeed just another smartphone vendor, mostly for casual users.
> iPhone users very rarely switch to Android, while a fair number of Android users switch to iPhone, which means that even in a saturated market Apple’s share should grow over time.
> And to be sure, an iPhone is still status-conferring: Apple is by no means doomed, and it’s possible those China numbers will turn positive this fall.
While apple had the best hardware untill 2014 I feel they are slipping behind. Two more generations and the iphone system dying overnight is not unthinkable if they dig deeper into mediocrity.
But so far I only see it happening in Macs.