Apple Says Many Users 'Bought an Android Phone By Mistake'

mrspoonsi (2955715) writes "Apple CEO Tim Cook during his keynote said that around 130 million customers have purchased their first Apple device in the last twelve months. He states, 'Many of these customers were switchers from Android,' he said. 'They had bought an Android phone by mistake, and then had sought a better experience and a better life.' He added that almost half of those who have purchased an iPhone in China since December have switched from Android. However, it is worth noting that iPhones were not actually available in China until December, when pre-orders began, so it is unclear how much of the device's popularity there is simply down to the novelty factor, rather than a burning desire to flee from Android."

Comments

"By Mistake"

[Godai]

Well, fortunately iOS 8 adds a bunch of things that Android has had forever, so that will help the problem!

Re:"By Mistake"

[SternisheFan]

So basically, is Apple's CEO saying that Apple users are idiots?

In other news

[UnknowingFool]

Coca- Cola says consumers have drank Pepsi by mistake in the past.

Whoosh

[Anonymous Coward]

as it flies over the poster's head.

Re:The shareholders will be impressed

[gstoddart]

That's not statistically significant, and it's irresponsible for
a CEO of a public company to say so.

I believe the word you're looking for is puffery.

Basically you can be full of shit, everyone knows you're full of shit, but it's OK to be full of shit because everyone knows you're not actually making a statement of fact.

Re:It true !!!!

[Z00L00K]

An android phone is quite flexible and allows quite a bit of freedom to the user. An Apple phone may look cool, but as soon as you think of stuff that you like (other favorite web browser etc.) you are toast.

"A Better Life"

[chinton]

Really... This phone or that phone will give you "a better life"?!? You need to get a life before you can have a better one.

Re:It true !!!!

[jjhall]

My wife and I have had "smartphones" (starting with Palm and the older Windows Mobile) for pushing 10 years now. We'd had Android phones for about 4 years, then we switched carriers in October. My wife decided she wanted to give an iPhone a try. I have an iPad for work, and she liked how it worked. She liked it for a couple of weeks, then the limitations started to get in the way. No external storage. Certain apps not available that she wanted. Settings she wasn't allowed to change such as default apps. In March we got her a new S4 and gave the iPhone to my daughter. 6 months is all she could stand being locked into Apple's walled garden. She didn't realize how open the Android system is in comparison to iOS.

If anything, I think Cook has it backwards. People go in looking for a smart phone and get sold an iPhone instead. If people are looking for an iPhone and walk out with an Android device I think it is more likely because of the price difference from an entry-level Android vs. an iPhone. It is very doubtful that they don't understand the difference with all of the marketing and hype surrounding both platforms. That or Apple is seriously underestimating the cognitive abilities of its customers, which is insulting at best.

Re:By mistake?

[doggo]

And I think this is what Cook was saying. People went to buy a smartphone thinking they'd have the same apps/functions/etc as the iPhone if they bought any smartphone, then found that their Android phone didn't do/use the specific thing that all their friends on iPhones could do/use.

To say that Tim Cook was saying people went to intentionally buy an iPhone, but accidentally bought an Android phone is disingenuous. You know what he meant. And if you don't, you have a serious English comprehension issue.

Now, whether cellular providers' sales people fobbed Android phones off on customers who were actually looking for an iPhone is another story.

You can imagine the scenario:

"I'd like an iPhone."
"That's $399, then."
"What?! That's a lot!"
"Well, we have these (Android) phones, and they're only $39.95."
"Is that an iPhone?"
"No, but it does all the same things."
"Oh. And only $39.95? Okay. I'll take it."

A few months later they've discovered that iPhone only app that all their friends rave about doesn't run on Android. Oops.

Re:Other way around

[TheGratefulNet]

if you are ok 'following the rules' then apple is fine for you.

I have a problem with 'rules' (when it comes to my own computer and what I can do with it) and so I won't be caught dead with a mac or iphone or ipad.

computers are more than a simple appliance to me. so apple is entirely wrong for folks like me.

wish there was a hacker's version (blessed by the company) for those who want something a bit more hybrid, with more freedom. I don't mind apple hardware but their software and systems approach is a huge turn-off and I won't buy their hardware only to have to fight them and work-around them.

Android phones are also more secure.

[emil]

And this conclusion has been peer reviewed. With Cyanogenmod, you even get a line-item veto (privacy guard).

Malicious software has appeared in the iTunes store. Android, in contrast, displays everything that an application will need to access so that users can decide themselves whether to go ahead with an installation.

To compare these two security models, Han and co-workers identified 1,300 popular applications that work identically on both iOS and Android. These applications, such as Facebook, often access code libraries on smartphones called security-sensitive application programing interfaces (SS-APIs), which provide private user data or grant control over devices such as the camera.

The researchers found that 73% of iOS applications, especially advertising and analytical code, consistently accessed more SS-APIs than their counterparts on Android. Additionally, the SS-APIs invoked by iOS tended to be those providing access to sensitive resources such as user contacts.

The results imply that by allowing users to control permissions, Android may be better at preventing stealthy applications from getting hold of private information. Notably, Android also intentionally avoids using SS-APIs if non-security-sensitive APIs can be used to achieve the same functions.

Re:Android phones are also more secure.

[supremebob]

The main problem that I see with Android security is that it takes forever to get security patches. It can take over six months for an Android point release to get validated by the carriers and pushed out to all of the phones, and many Android phones that are more than 18 months old aren't getting ANY Android updates anymore.

Combine that with clueless end users (like my poor Mom) who seemingly click on every e-mail and SMS link they receive without thinking twice, and you have a disaster waiting to happen. She switched to an iPhone after her old Android 2.3 phone got hacked and filled with malware.

Re:Android phones are also more secure.

[amicusNYCL]

You can jailbreak your phone and modify the functionality of iOS, too.

The fact that this is referred to as "jailbreaking" is telling. My phone didn't start out in jail.

Re:Android phones are also more secure.

[smash]

Hand-balling security to the end user, when 90% of end users are muppets will not work, as demonstrated by the malware success on the Windows platform. Android is the Windows XP of smartphones. The rest of the world has tried that approach for the past 30 years, seen that it is not viable, and moved on. End users are not, and will not ever be, or care to be security experts. Apple gets that. Microsoft is beginning to get that. Android fans who say that leaving security stuff to the end user do not get that. Yet. It will come.

Re:It true !!!!

[Bigbutt]

I have an Android and an iPhone and find the iPhone works better for what I need it for. While I've been frustrated from time to time with the iPhone, it doesn't take more than a minute or two of using the Android before I'm ready to pitch the damn thing into a nearby lake. It's nothing about available apps or external storage or anything, just basic usability. Being able to compose an email or text someone.

[John]

Re:It true !!!!

[smash]

Yes, if people haven't watched the keynote, you need to take Cook's comments in context. It was a light dig, said with a humorous tone whilst discussing sales numbers, os upgrade numbers and customer satisfaction survey results.

Re:It true !!!!

[eth1]

Your anecdote doesn't really mean much. Apple has much better retention than other companies, ...

Apple calls it "retention," the rest of us call it "vendor lock-in."

Re:It true !!!!

[marsu_k]

Really, apart from the soundbites given by evangelicals such as Cook, how many actual pieces of malware have slipped through the Play Store? Yes, installing random software from the net can be quite harmful, I guess that is given (there have been attacks on jailbroken iPhones as well). Personally, I like to have the ability to choose (yay for HumbleBundle), but I can see the point of the walled garden. Then again, Apple App Store is no panacea, as was proven quite recently.

Re:It true !!!!

[CastrTroy]

They are locking you in because phones that run iOS are only available from Apple. If I buy an Android phone, and buy my apps from the Google Play store, then when it comes time to buy my next phone, I still have to buy an Android phone if I want to use all my apps, but I can get a phone from Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Google, and many others. If I bought an iPhone, and I want to upgrade my phone, and maintain usage of my old apps, I have to get another iPhone. You're always locked into the operating system. but with Apple/iPhone, you're locked into the hardware manufacturer as well.