Hacker News Reader

Comment by dba7dba | Hacker News Reader

> Jeff Bezos is very focused on this “absolute dollar free cash flow metric.

I wish Apple operated that way, as lowering Apple device price will very likely increase the absolute amount of dollars coming into their back acct.

I mean I get Amazon and Apple ear their income via different methods but still.

View on HN

But Apple is a luxury and lifestyle brand. And as good as their hardware is, it's not particularly hard to replicate, especially if they were operating on the same profit margins as everybody else. Apple has to zealously maintain their brand, which means limiting both supply and product lineup. Otherwise they may as well change their name to Sony.

Amazon has an enormous lead in scale. More importantly, the only way to defend that lead is to consume as much market demand as they can, which puts downward pressure on their prices.

Too much market share would be the death of Apple. Too little market share would be the death of Amazon.

There processor design technology is ahead of the rest of the industry. The iPhone 6s from 2015 was faster than all 2018 Android phones in single core performance.

When you go down to processors like the ones in the Apple Watch or the AirPods, no one comes close to the size/power. There is a reason all Android watches are big ugly monstrosities.

You realize as far as marketshare, iOS has close to 50% in the US and well over 30% in most other industrialized nations. There is no exclusivity to owning an iPhone in developed markets.

I had thought Apple's smartphone market share peaked in the 20% range. I stand corrected.

I’m only referring to “industrialized”/“developed” countries like the US, Japan, Western Europe, etc.

https://deviceatlas.com/blog/android-v-ios-market-share

Benchmarks don't matter. They're both snappy and useable. Android has far more features and variety, though.

Watches are dying. The reason Android isn't trying is because it's a passing fad.

The mid range Moto G that my son had was far from snappy and that was usually hailed as a good midrange Android phone.

But now you sound like Mac users back in the Mac 68K and PPC days.

Apple Watch sales have increased not decreased.

You could’ve just said non-Intel.

You're comparing a Moto g to an iPhone? That's double the price.

I’m comparing a a 2018 Moto G to a 2015 iPhone.

The iPhone from 2015 will probably be getting updates longer than the 2018 Moto G.

Again, you are comparing a phone that was half the price at launch. Operating systems evolve. Just because a phone is newer, doesn't make it snappier. There are far more things running on Android and iOS by default than there was 8 years ago. Try comparing the 2015 iphone to a galaxy s6.

Here is a benchmark comparison.

https://www.ubergizmo.com/products/lang/en_us/devices/iphone...

Both phones were around the same price at launch.

The iPhone 6s is still supported and still getting os upgrades and security patches - the Galaxy S6 isn’t.

The iPhone 6s should get at least one more year of upgrades but considering the iPhone 5s is two years older and still getting updates I would bet on at least two more years.

Long term, which is the better but?

Btw,

Here is a comparison between the flagship Galaxy S9 to a two year iPhone 7.

https://9to5mac.com/2018/03/01/iphone-versus-samsung-benchma...

Again, those benchmarks mean nothing. User perception does. And "updates" are a farce. What kind of updates are you waiting for from Apple? Is there a huge feature that you just can't live without?

Btw, your link shows how much better the Galaxy phone is. But if you choose your phone based on which has higher benchmarks rather than things like a better camera, to each their own.

Android is not exactly known for its buttery smooth interface...

https://www.theandroidsoul.com/how-to-fix-galaxy-s9-lag-and-...

https://superpowered.com/android-audio-latency-problem-just-...

Not to mention all of the security vulnerabilities that don’t get patched.

The advantage of updates is that it encourages app developers to take advantage of the latest features. For instance, the author of Overcast, my favorite podcast app could release a new version that required iOS 12 a month after it came out without having to lose any customers - anyone who could run iOS 11 could run iOS 12.

As far as updates, just the integration of shortcuts and Workflow has done wonders in iOS 12.

Link to your list of unpatched security vulnerabilities please.

And apple lags just as much.

https://qz.com/1162402/why-your-iphone-feels-slower-after-ea...

Shortcuts is a weaker version of Tasker. You could have switched to Android and had that 5 years ago.

It’s not that Google doesn’t patch vulnerabilities, is that between the phone manufacturers and the OEMs that the patches sometimes never reach the older phones or sometimes no update reaches the phone.

As far as “batterygate”. Batteries degrade over time. Either Apple slowed the phone down or the phone shuts off.

> Benchmarks don't matter.

They Do, up to a certain level, and we haven't quite reach there yet across all spectrum of devices.

> They're both snappy and useable.

They are not.

>Watches are dying. The reason Android isn't trying is because it's a passing fad.

The data tells a completely different story.

A shame Apple is acting in a way that makes them earn less. If only they would listen to you instead of that Tim Cook guy! /s

>I wish Apple operated that way, as lowering Apple device price will very likely increase the absolute amount of dollars coming into their back acct.

I've always thought they should make a $10,000+ model. iPhones are essentially a status symbol unless you buy it for privacy purposes. There is a decent market who would pay a lot of money to have a iPhone that the plebes can't afford. Hell, even a lot of broke people would save up to buy one

It's like cars, if you just want a tool to get from point A to B you can buy one cheap. On the other hand you can also spend hundreds of thousands on luxury cars.

Make some limited edition iPhones every year and I'm sure there would be demand and an eventual collector market

How is anything a “status symbol” with over 30%-50% market share in industrialized nations?

There are a lot more reasons to buy iPhones than status symbols and privacy. Chief of which is better performance and longevity.

The iPhone 5s from 2013 is still getting OS updates. The iPhone 6s from 2015 will still outperform most new Android phones and should be getting updates for at least another two years.

>How is anything a “status symbol” with over 30%-50% market share in industrialized nations?

That's my point, when it came out the marketing around the iPhone was how using apple made you a trendsetter and you were ahead of the curve, now everybody has one. So raise the price and bring back the sense of exclusivity

as for performance, it really doesn't matter for luxury items. People pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for old cars and it's not because they perform better than a modern economy class vehicle

It actually didn’t. This was the first iPhone ad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nyYloJyq9M

Or you can watch every single iPhone ad. None of them scream exclusivity.

https://www.theverge.com/2012/2/24/2820832/every-apple-iphon...

There are other iPhones for sale besides the $1500 maxed out iPhone XS Max.

They tried this with the watch. There was a $17k version at launch, which later was downsized multiple times until it was eventually killed entirely in 2018. https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/9/12/17851918/a...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com