Apple Tops Holiday Sales With 44 Percent of All New Device Activations (macrumors.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Mac Rumors: Apple's iPhone and iPad were the most popular mobile devices gifted during the holidays this year, according to new data shared by Yahoo-owned mobile analytics firm Flurry. Flurry examined device activations by manufacturer between 12/19 and 12/25, finding Apple devices to be twice as popular as Samsung devices. 44 percent of all new phone activations were Apple iPhones, while Samsung smartphones accounted for 21 percent of activations. Huawei, LG, Amazon, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Motorola trailed behind with between two and three percent of activations each. Google's Pixel smartphone, which came out in October, did not make Flurry's list. Last year, Flurry released a similar report, and Apple devices made up 49.1 percent of all device activations, while Samsung devices came in at 19.8 percent. Phablets, or smartphones and tablets ranging in size from 5 inches to 6.9 inches, continued to grow in popularity. In 2016, the phablets category, which includes the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, 6s Plus, and 7 Plus, was responsible for 37 percent of total device activations. Medium-sized phones, like the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 7, were responsible for 45 percent of all activations. Activations of full-sized tablets, like the iPad, have continued to wane. From Flurry's report: "While Samsung is slowly growing in popularity throughout the holiday season, up 1% from last year, Apple devices continue to be the gift to give. Holding the third and fourth positions for activations are Huawei and LG; which is remarkable, as both manufacturers do not have an individual device within the top 35 devices activated. Their high rank is likely due to the fact that they have wide variety of devices and affordable options (hundreds of phablet and medium phones) for consumers to choose from."

Comments

In other words

[lucm]

The majority of new device activations (roughly 56%) was Android phones.

Re:In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

In other words, it took a collection of several companies to beat a single company, and only barely.

On top of that, I would barely consider the bastardized OS that Samsung offers Android at all.

Re: In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, and that 56% accounts for 30% of device revenue, 20% of app sales, and only 10% of devices with the newest OS installed. Or maybe we can focus on sales that drive app development.

Re:In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds correct. And the majority of all profits (roughly 95%) goes to Apple.

Re:In other words

[grub]

Apple takes home the lion's share of all mobile profits by a huge margin. Cheap Android phones don't make much money for anyone and they're the bulk of what is sold.

Re: In other words

[lucm]

Sure, and that 56% accounts for 30% of device revenue, 20% of app sales, and only 10% of devices with the newest OS installed.

You're looking at this ass backwards. The huge profit margin and the planned obsolescence that is at the core of Apple business model is the exact reason why they are losing their grip on the market. They could dominate this industry for a long time if they focused on building good phones at a good price, but instead they're on a money-grab strategy (minimum investment, maximum profit) and they're sinking.

You can't keep selling average phones at a huge premium for a long time, people wise up and ditch you. Historically there's been a small segment of Apple fanatics, roughly around 10% of the market, and that's where Apple is headed. Back home, to the small niche of people who don't mind overpaying for what they think is prestigious.

Re:In other words

[lucm]

Apple takes home the lion's share of all mobile profits by a huge margin.

And you consider this a good thing? Bragging material? When everyone knows that they stopped innovating years ago, that they're exploiting Chinese workers and that they're piling up billions upon billions of dollars in offshore bank accounts, severely hurting the American economy in the process?

Meanwhile Apple customers are probably the first to get their panties in a bunch over Walmart business practices and their impact on the American factories. Such a bunch of hypocrites.

Re:In other words

[WarJolt]

On top of that, I would barely consider the bastardized OS that Samsung offers Android at all.

An OS in the Android world is really a runtime. The Android runtime runs all the Android apps it needs to, so who cares how much lipstick they put on that pig?

Re: In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

planned obsolescence

Odd. Every single app in the app store still works on my 5, that came out in 2012.

Re:In other words

[grub]

Businesses only stay in business when they make profit. So, yes, that is a good thing for their business.

I don't go to Walmart, but I'm also not in the US, so its impact on American factories means little to me.

Re:In other words

[lucm]

Businesses only stay in business when they make profit.

Businesses stay in business when their business model is sustainable. That's why Apple took a nosedive in the 90s and had to be saved by Microsoft, and that's why they're again heading straight for the wall. They don't learn.

Re:In other words

[Tough Love]

the majority of all profits (roughly 95%) goes to Apple

[Citation needed]

Re:In other words

[Tough Love]

Cheap Android phones don't make much money for anyone.

Rubbish. Well over a billion Android handsets per year drives a huge industrial supply chain, making billions for everyone from suppliers of raw materials to foundries to manufacturers to retailers. Oracle says the Android industry generates $32 billion annually. I say that's an underestimate, and I say enough wishful thinking from bitter Apple groupies.

Re:In other words

[grub]

So when Apple's business model is sustainable (profitable), it's bad? What wall are they headed towards? It sounds like this story is more good news for Apple.

Re:In other words

[lucm]

So when Apple's business model is sustainable (profitable), it's bad?

Profitable and sustainable are two different things. For instance, one can operate a very profitable business as a bank robber or Ponzi scheme instigator but this is not sustainable.

Fucking your customers over consistently by forcing them to upgrade power cables or headphones on top of selling them antiquated hardware at a premium compared to the vastly superior hardware sold by the competition is not a sustainable business model.

Re:In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

44% Apple, 55.9% Android, and don't forget 0.1% the late great Microsoft.

Speaking of which, I just treated myself to a new laptop. Comes with Virus 10, but will be converted to Linux on the first boot.

Wasted hours trying to get a friend's iPad to unlock with their PC-base iTunes. Neither end worked, etc, etc. It reminded me of why Apple products are banned in my household.

Re:In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

"...and that's why they're again heading straight for the wall..."

If Apple were in the dire position of _ever_ actually losing money again, say at a rate of a Billion a year.... they have cash on hand to limp on for... over two centuries. That is, if they don't tap into their company-owned Market Cap.
Microsoft didn't save Apple; that was a strategic investment on the part of Microsoft that paid off very well for both. Microsoft Office then became the de facto Office Suite for both platforms. (That originated on Macs a decade before.) The alternative for Apple, (And maybe Microsoft...), was IBM OS/2 and Lotus...

To be clear: I don't own or have ever owned an iPhone. Or an Android. Or just whatever it is that Microsoft is flogging. I don't own Apple Stock. The Apple-Intel Alliance is very frail, and Intel is much of the reason why Apple hardware lags, which is why Apple is making ARM noises. OSX, especially iTunes, has become a bloated mess. And my Friends who waver tell me that if buying new, and not trying to drag two decade old software and hardware along... Windows is now useable and reasonably secure. At least from everybody but Microsoft.
That said, my next computer will probably be a MacBook. I _like_ the idea of not having half a dozen incompatible ports stuck in the side. USB-C, WiFi, Bluetooth, and that's it. (And a lot of moaning would stop if Apple had done one very simple thing- include a USB-C to USB adapter in the box.) I don't upgrade; the last time was to add RAM and replace the HD in a first generation Mini in 2008. _Most_ people never upgrade. And something that most ignore- used Apple gear holds its value pretty well on resale, as they are known quantities, and not just anonymous boxes stuffed with unknown bits. (The value of a "Hackintosh" is dubious at best.)

"...They don't learn."
No, _you_ don't learn. Before flapping your gums again, at least learn some History, Economics, and Perspective. Dethroned Ballmer keeps on repeating the tired old lie that Microsoft "saved" Apple, and it does you no credit to repeat it.

Re:In other words

[lucm]

44% Apple, 55.9% Android, and don't forget 0.1% the late great Microsoft.

The Microsoft smartphone strategy will always remain a mystery to me. It's like they did all they could to scare developers away and to only allow low-end models to be sold via telecom providers.

I used a high-end Lumia for a while and it was very nice. I installed Gmail because Outlook is just brain-damaged but besides that, all the built-in apps were pretty good, I was surprised. Good battery life, good gps and maps, terrific camera. Of course the app store is a joke - and that by itself is a shame because Windows is the only smartphone o/s that allows you to create native apps with html5 and javascript (without faking it like phonegap).

Re:In other words

[unixisc]

What percentage were Windows phones? If it was anything more than 12%, then Android would not be 56%. On a different note, tablet activations would decline, since a lot of the apps that work on phones are disabled on tablets - particularly on the Android side of things

Re:In other words

[lucm]

If Apple were in the dire position of _ever_ actually losing money again, say at a rate of a Billion a year.... they have cash on hand to limp on for... over two centuries.

Wrong. Most of their cash (about 230 billions) is abroad and they can't touch it without giving a huge chunk of it to the tax man. They also have huge debts, to the tune of 75 billions.

If they were to bring back their money, pay their taxes and pay their debts, Apple would have less money than McDonalds. Apple is a market bubble all by itself.

Re: In other words

[BronsCon]

Every single app in the app store still works on my 5

Only because they haven't opened up the NFC APIs; once they do that, there'll be an entire class of app that won't work for you.

Oh, I'm sure there are games, and possibly other apps, which absolutely rely on force touch. You can't really use those, either.

In the future, maybe be careful with absolutes; there's no quicker way to be wrong than to only require one counterexample.

Re:In other words

[BronsCon]

a lot of the apps that work on phones are disabled on tablets - particularly on the Android side of things

Examples? I'm not saying that's not true, but I haven't encountered it; just a bit curious.

Re:In other words

[unixisc]

I have. There were some apps that I wanted to install and run, such as Android Auto, so that I could try connecting it to my car's navigation. It listed my device as incompatible, while the app states that it's designed for phones. There are some others I've tried before where I've run into this - can't recall of the top of my head.

Re: In other words

[ceoyoyo]

All of those things apply to Android phones as well. Improving your hardware isn't planned obsolescence.

Re: In other words

[Dog-Cow]

Being an irrational bigot means not having to care about logic.

Apple is routinely acknowledged to be the best manufacturer when it comes to long-term support. It would be nice if they would encourage App developers to support older versions of iOS, but I don't really expect them to.

Re: In other words

[Plumpaquatsch]

Sure, and that 56% accounts for 30% of device revenue, 20% of app sales, and only 10% of devices with the newest OS installed.

You're looking at this ass backwards. The huge profit margin and the planned obsolescence that is at the core of Apple business model is the exact reason why they are losing their grip on the market. They could dominate this industry for a long time if they focused on building good phones at a good price, but instead they're on a money-grab strategy (minimum investment, maximum profit) and they're sinking.

Or the fact that the others are on a throwing-money-away strategy (maximum investment, negative profit) in their battle over marketshare is the reason why that share rises, but also the reason why many of them will not be showing up in the list next year because they went belly up. Just look at the number of companies with more than 1% share: 2 years ago there were 5, just as last year, with Xiaomi replacing Sony, but this year we have 8, with Nokia/Microsoft dropping out, but with all the smaller ones but Apple and Samsung at (rounded) 2% (Huawai at 3%).

You can't keep selling average phones at a huge loss for a long time, investors wise up and ditch you.

And remember, unplanned obsolescence due to company failure is at least as bad as an (imagined) planned one.

BTW: Samsung only grew a little over one percentage point, not 2 as you want to make it appear. IOW they couldn't even take up the share left from Nokia/Microsoft folding.

Re:In other words

[amiga3D]

They've put so much lipstick on it that the pig can't see where it's going. I've been using Android for a while now and it's getting more and more bloated. With every update my two year old phone gets slower. It's a shame that my next phone will have a cpu with twice the cores and almost double the clock speed of the current one but thanks to the pile of bloatware they ship on them it'll probably run slower, not faster.

Re: In other words

[BronsCon]

As I look around my apartment, at all of the Apple hardware, including 4 different model iPads and an iPhone 6s Plus, I wonder if I was actually just called an irrational bigot for saying something bad about Apple.

Re: In other words

[BronsCon]

My point wasn't that Android was any better; I'm not after a pissing match as I use both platforms extensively. The irony of the other poster calling my an irrational bigot and saying I don't care about logic in response to my pointing out the logical fallacy of your argument, however, is stunning.

My point, since you (and the other poster) plainly missed it, is that not every single app in the app store works on your iPhone 5 and it is fallacious to even claim such as only one counterpoint is required to prove your statement completely false.

Re: In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes Samsung only grew a little, but thats still infinitely more than Apple going backwards :)

Re:In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

Because Americans need ten times the dollars to make a living.

Re:In other words

[Plumpaquatsch]

So to you Apple was in a better shape when they were still losing money. Well thanks for that insight.

Re:In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

All that this really means is that there are far too many iDiots out there that still fall for (Cr)apple's hype, and buy their vastly overpriced, poorly designed and manufactures iCrap!

But then look how many voted for an arrogant moronic racist bully that throws a temper tantrum (or several!) every day!!

Boy, does the gene pool ever need some really strong chlorine and disinfectant!!

Re:In other words

[Plumpaquatsch]

Cheap Android phones don't make much money for anyone.

Rubbish. Well over a billion Android handsets per year drives a huge industrial supply chain, making billions for everyone from suppliers of raw materials to foundries to manufacturers to retailers. Oracle says the Android industry generates $32 billion annually. I say that's an underestimate, and I say enough wishful thinking from bitter Apple groupies.

That's Google's total revenue on Android until Jan. 2016. What's that number supposed to prove exactly in relation to the question asked? Again, this is neither profit (as in "making money") nor "the industry".

Just to make sure you understand: Apple had more revenue on iOS last quarter.

Re: In other words

[Plumpaquatsch]

Yes Samsung only grew a little, but thats still infinitely more than Apple going backwards :)

Gee, could this have something to do with most Apple users buying their own phone when they come out in fall instead of waiting until they get one for Christmas?

Re:In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

Still, 44% is about three times Apple's current market share, so it is a succes for Apple.

Re: In other words

[dilvish_the_damned]

Worked for Gateway 2000

Re:In other words

[Tough Love]

Oracle says the Android industry generates $32 billion annually. I say that's an underestimate, and I say enough wishful thinking from bitter Apple groupies.

That's Google's total revenue on Android until Jan. 2016. What's that number supposed to prove exactly in relation to the question asked?

You are right, that number is a small fraction of the total Android industry, what was I thinking?

Again, this is neither profit (as in "making money") nor "the industry". Just to make sure you understand: Apple had more revenue on iOS last quarter.

You don't mean "on iOS", you mean from all its operations. Six times as many Android phones are sold as Apple phones, and for more than 1/6th the price. Inescapable conclusion: worldwide Android revenue is considerably more than Apple's revenue. Sure, it's divided up between many companies, and we care about that exactly why? Then there's the trend: Apple volume down ~7%/year while the world phone market increases 4%/year. Oops.

Re: In other words

[dnaumov]

Sure, and that 56% accounts for 30% of device revenue, 20% of app sales, and only 10% of devices with the newest OS installed.

You're looking at this ass backwards. The huge profit margin and the planned obsolescence that is at the core of Apple business model is the exact reason why they are losing their grip on the market.

Sounds like somebody needs a reality check. Planned obsolescence? I can only dream Android manufacturers were as good as Apple at this planned obsolescence thing, considering no Android vendor comes even close to supporting their hardware for so long.

Re:In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

Wrong. Apple is an International Corporation. They don't have to bring "it" back to the States, especially all of the Cash harvested overseas. In fact, they have had a corporate presence in Cork, Ireland since 1980, and are on _very_ good terms with the Irish Government. (Which has been raising eyebrows in Brussels...)
But if Apple should decide to say lose a Billion a year in US Operations as part of a strategic plan over the long term, that does wonders for one's Tax Liabilities. Just ask the President-Elect... but of course he did it by losing _other_ people's money.
But say bad stuff happens, they lose 25% to the US Taxman, and another 10% to the Muscles from Brussels, and $75B to pay off debt.. They can still burn through that cash in... 100 years. And then there is all that Real Estate and IP to ponder.
That really burns you, doesn't it? It has nothing to do with Apple Tech, or Apple market share, or Apple profit margins. You are just raging green with jealousy and envy that you simply aren't part of it, and will never invited to be. (And neither am I. But I'm OK with that.) That there are page after page of anti-Apple posts under your moniker testifies to that. You really are obsessed.
But perhaps you have Michael Dell in mind, when he stated in 1997 concerning Apple: "What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders." What Dell said and what Dell did are another matter. What Dell actually did was copy the Apple business plan:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/michael-dell-outsourcing-jobs-timeline

"Apple is a market bubble all by itself." Yeah... it's been four decades now of Apple pissing people like you off, and any minute now that bubble will burst... but guess what... you just aren't a sharp enough prick.

Re: In other words

[drinkypoo]

Apple is routinely acknowledged to be the best manufacturer when it comes to long-term support.

But for no particular reason, since they are actually as likely to do something evil as something sane and only overwhelming pressure from customers will lead them to do anything about it. Holding it wrong? B&W G3 data corruption "buy another IDE card with a mac tax sucker"? G4 cube cracking, "suck it up fanboys"? G5s leaking and Apple first tried to bury the story, then tried to deny repair claims as the warranty had expired, and then only when it became broadly known did they repair or replace machines.

Re: In other words

[nomadic]

Yeah, it would be nice if they had just adopted Linux without adopting the Linux bloat mentality.

Re: In other words

[nomadic]

Disagree. And I'm an apple hater. As obnoxious as it is, the strategy of steal-and-market will probably continue to sustain them as social climbers in the developing world look for prestige. So even when the beanie-and-Arcade Fire crowd runs out of trust fund money they will be replaced.

Re:In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

The bulk of the profit on all that revenue goes to Apple. Apple's war chest builds up for the long term while the Android makers copy everyone else.

The race to the bottom is littered with the corpses of dead companies on that path. Cheap cars, cheap computers, etc.

Re: In other words

[nomadic]

You're just angry that he/she gets to pay 4 times as much as you for their phone. Jealous much?

Re:In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

It is if you spend enough on marketing to make think people think your polished turds are actually worth something.
It's been working well enough so far, there's another Apple sucker born every minute remember.

Re: In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

Your funny.

Re: In other words

[amiga3D]

You mean the Ubuntu bloat mentality I'm sure. It's a distro thing. Android is just another distribution.

Re:In other words

[jareth-0205]

Yeah, this I always find hilarious too - people being *happy* that 2/3 of the cost of their phone is pure profit for the badge mannufacturer.

Re:In other words

[krisbrowne42]

Most likely accounting for 1% of profits...

Re:In other words

[unixisc]

Wasted hours trying to get a friend's iPad to unlock with their PC-base iTunes. Neither end worked, etc, etc. It reminded me of why Apple products are banned in my household.

Should have sent your friend to the nearest Apple Store

Re:In other words

[Plumpaquatsch]

Oracle says the Android industry generates $32 billion annually. I say that's an underestimate, and I say enough wishful thinking from bitter Apple groupies.

That's Google's total revenue on Android until Jan. 2016. What's that number supposed to prove exactly in relation to the question asked?

You are right, that number is a small fraction of the total Android industry, what was I thinking?

Not much, you just grabbed the first number that you "thought" supported your point and posted it without checking the facts. Which is your MO.

Again, this is neither profit (as in "making money") nor "the industry". Just to make sure you understand: Apple had more revenue on iOS last quarter.

You don't mean "on iOS", you mean from all its operations.

Nope, I meant from iOS. Check it out, you imbecile. Problem is you can't, because you are too stupid. Tough Love, indeed. Certainly not Loves Thought.

Re: In other words

[nomadic]

I think it's a kernel thing too. At least, Linus concedes it is, but argues that they can just rely on faster processors and more memory, which I think is a bad design philosophy. Even "small footprint" distros seem waaay too sluggish today.

Re: In other words

[fbobraga]

"Adroid bloat" in this case :P

Re: In other words

[fbobraga]

it's the contrary of my perception...

* and for Android: cyanogenmod seems to remove all carrier/maker insane bloat, to me...

Re: In other words

[Anonymous Coward]

Uhhh... Exactly how many years of updates do you expect a $0.99, $1.99, or (splurge!) $4.99 app should get you?

Re: In other words

[BronsCon]

I expect updates to allow the app to run on the most recent OS version, if for no reason other than they're still trying to sell the app to new users who will be running that version. But, really, that has fuck all to do with app running on old devices; in fact, apps that don't get updates will run on those old devices for longer.

So... What was your point?

Re:In other words

[Tough Love]

Apple's war chest builds up for the long term

More like a horde chest. Tim Cook is too squeamish to use it in any effective way. Meanwhile, Apple's race to the bottom of the market share pile is gathering steam.

Re:In other words

[Tough Love]

I felt more stupid after reading your post.

Re: In other words

[amiga3D]

cyanogenmod is dead I've heard. What options are there going forward?

Re: In other words

[amiga3D]

I've used some lighter distros and they run fine on Pentium 4 laptops. Puppy in particular and PeppermintOS are blistering fast even on older stuff. The new Raspberry Pi 3 runs on a pretty anemic arm system and yet it's serviceable as a linux desktop. I have an atom dual core 1.6ghz netbook that struggled with win7 starter and yet is pretty snappy with PeppermintOS. I briefly tried Ubuntu on it but it was as bad as win7.

Re: In other words

[lucm]

Gee, could this have something to do with most Apple users buying their own phone when they come out in fall instead of waiting until they get one for Christmas?

No.

Re:In other words

[lucm]

So to you Apple was in a better shape when they were still losing money. Well thanks for that insight.

Look pal, you can twist words all day long, it won't stop Apple from continuing their freefall into irrelevance.

Re:In other words

[lucm]

Yeah... it's been four decades now of Apple pissing people like you off, and any minute now that bubble will burst... but guess what... you just aren't a sharp enough prick.

Dude. Apple almost went bankrupt in the 90s. The "bubble" started in 2010-2011, that's hardly four decades.

Re:In other words

[Plumpaquatsch]

So to you Apple was in a better shape when they were still losing money. Well thanks for that insight.

Look pal, you can twist words all day long, it won't stop Android from continuing their freefall into irrelevance.

FTFY

Re: In other words

[Plumpaquatsch]

Gee, could this have something to do with most Apple users buying their own phone when they come out in fall instead of waiting until they get one for Christmas?

Yes.

FTFY

Re:In other words

[Plumpaquatsch]

I felt more stupid after reading your post.

Then I did my job: to inform you of your stupidity. I hope you keep up feeling even more stupid every day, because lets face it: you are.

Re: In other words

[fbobraga]

cyanogenmod is dead I've heard.

Really? It's seems a HOAX to me...

Re:In other words

[Tough Love]

Yes, you did your job of spreading stupidity

Re: In other words

[baristabrian]

"Freefall ..." You're fucking stupid. But funny.

Re: In other words

[baristabrian]

Yeah it sucks; you need a typical grade schooler to figure out those DAMN Apple products.

Re: In other words

[baristabrian]

Ding Ding Ding! We have a TRUMPOPHOBE!

Re: In other words

[lucm]

"Freefall ..."

You're fucking stupid.

But funny.

I could have gone with "slow but constant decline in market share, innovation, quality and brand prestige" but I figured that freefall covered all that.

Re: In other words

[amiga3D]

https://www.xda-developers.com...

There's talk of a fork but things are pretty dire it seems.

Re: In other words

[fbobraga]

mod parent up

Re:In other words

[Plumpaquatsch]

Yes, you did your job of spreading stupidity

Yeah, because I quoted him - and you. Spread it out real thick to thin it.

Re:In other words

[Tough Love]

I suppose that life in the Apple world means being constantly subject to the word farts of your ilk.

Re:In other words

[Plumpaquatsch]

I suppose that life in the Apple world means being constantly subject to the word farts of your ilk.

No it means constantly being subject to the brain farts of your ilk. And boy do they stink.

Shiny toys

[John Allsup]

Apple are in the expensive shiny toy business these days, so no surprise they do well around Christmas.

Wow! Android is almost Dead!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like I'd better buy my next Android now. By this time next year they'll be as dead as Blackberry...

Compatibility

[MikeB0Lton]

But, but... headphone jacks?!?

Re:Compatibility

[Ash-Fox]

Have you tried the universal business adapter?

Samsung was poised to blow up for the Holidays.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry.

Re:Wow! Android is almost Dead!!

[lucm]

Apple had 49.1% of new activations last year. They can't even keep their numbers in their strongest quarter.

Yeah right.

[Anonymous Coward]

This data is false, it doesn't make any sense at all. Maybe in a very limited sector this is true, but no way those charts are right.

Re:Yeah right.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yup.

Considering the mothership itself doesn't release specific numbers, one has to wonder where they're getting their information from.

This seems like a masturbation piece to try to bolster their favourite platform since people buy what they read is popular.

Besides, they even say it themselves -- it's just holiday sales. It's all well and good for a 44% sale for 1 month in their strongest quarter (since they release exclusively just before). So 11/12 months? They're not that good. Samsung beats them in activations since they cover a larger percentage of the market.

Re:Wow! Android is almost Dead!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Totally beleaguered. Netcraft confirms it.

Apple Holiday Sales Share Shrinks

[Tough Love]

Fixed the headline.

Re:Apple Holiday Sales Share Shrinks

[ahabswhale]

Except they were up today.

Re:Apple Holiday Sales Share Shrinks

[Anonymous Coward]

How many MacIntoshes did they sell this year (including iMac, MacPro, MacMini, and MacBook)??
Who is the richtest person on the planet? Right, that's still Bill Gates.

Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[lucm]

I'm sure the Chinese slaves who work in Apple sweatshops for $3/hour will rejoice. It will ensure them many more months of working 64h/week before they earn more than they spend on basic living conditions.

It would cost $12 per device to Apple if they were to ensure a decent wage to those workers but that would slow down the insane piling of money in Apple offshore accounts so it will never happen.

Thank you Apple and Apple customers! You all contribute to making the world a better place.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[ahabswhale]

Interesting factoid! Please tell my which brand of cellphone I should buy that is so generous to its laborers, making the most commoditized electronic product in the world?

Re: Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Anonymous Coward]

F*** Foxconn.

Sent from my iPhone.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[lucm]

Interesting factoid! Please tell my which brand of cellphone I should buy that is so generous to its laborers, making the most commoditized electronic product in the world?

According to China Labor Watch, pretty much any brand except for Apple.

Also if your argument is that smartphones are commoditized, can you explain why you and other fanbois applause and cheer a company that makes $400 per device they sell, while a simple $12 chunk of this profit could make the Chinese workers who do all the work live well?

Anyone who buys an iPhone is complicit of this outrageous exploitation of human beings.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Anonymous Coward]

Citation or gtfo because all that shit is assembled by foxconn

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Anonymous Coward]

Are there no rice paddies for them to work in?

Yes? There are? They just don't want to? They prefer their factory jobs?

Oh.

OK.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[dugancent]

Companies that use Foxonn.

Acer Inc. (Taiwan)
Amazon.com (United States)
Apple Inc. (United States)
BlackBerry Ltd. (Canada)
Cisco (United States)
Dell (United States)
Google (United States)
Hewlett-Packard (United States)
Huawei (China)
InFocus (United States)
Intel (United States)
Microsoft (United States)
Motorola Mobility (United States)
Nintendo (Japan)
Nokia (Finland)
Sony (Japan)
Toshiba (Japan)
Vizio (United States)
Xiaomi (China)

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[lucm]

They prefer their factory jobs?

That must explain all those suicides. Overabundance of happiness and hope.

That also must explain why Apple prefer installing safety nets to prevent workers from jumping from the factory roofs rather than sacrificing $12 of their $400 profit per device. Otherwise, what's next? They're gonna ask for picnic tables or some kind of free water supply in those hot factories? Must draw the line somewhere. Besides, working for Apple should be a reward by itself.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[lucm]

Citation or gtfo

<-- wikipedia is that way, and 4chan is that way -->

Slashdot is for people with at least a working knowledge of search engines.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[lucm]

Ok I will have to assume that you don't know how this works.

It's not a one-size-fits-all situation. First, Foxconn is not the only supplier, there's also Pegatron (who pays the workers on Apple production line even less than Foxconn, an impressive $1.85/hour). Second, the conditions for each production line is not the same. Apple has dedicated plants and they are by far the worst: extreme pressure, poor working conditions, etc. It's well-documented to the point that even poor Chinese workers no longer want to work in those plants, which led Foxconn to implement a new policy: only workers who bring in new recruits are eligible for overtime (which, given the low wages, is vital to pay for basic living conditions).

You would assume that things have improved since Steve Jobs had them install those safety nets. But here's an interesting story from 4 months ago (Aug 2016) in the WSJ:

Early one day last week, a 31-year-old man finished his night shift on an iPhone assembly line, climbed to the top floor of Foxconn Technology Group’s L03 production building and leapt to his death. He had been on the job for a month.
[...]
[The workers] were especially anxious to learn details of the suicide, which they said occurred during a time of intense pressure on workers as the factory ramps up for iPhone production.

Now, please provide a list of suicides in Foxconn factories on the production line from any of the companies on your list:
Acer Inc. (Taiwan)
Amazon.com (United States)
Apple Inc. (United States)
BlackBerry Ltd. (Canada)
Cisco (United States)
Dell (United States)
Google (United States)
Hewlett-Packard (United States)
Huawei (China)
InFocus (United States)
Intel (United States)
Microsoft (United States)
Motorola Mobility (United States)
Nintendo (Japan)
Nokia (Finland)
Sony (Japan)
Toshiba (Japan)
Vizio (United States)
Xiaomi (China)

Take your time.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[ceoyoyo]

When you say "according to" you need to supply a citation, not just "google is that way." As far as I can tell, Chinal Labor Watch has stories (they are stories) about lots of different retailers and manufacturers, including both Apple and Samsung. There aren't any real numbers and there are no comparisons. So calling bullshit on your post.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Dog-Cow]

Apple owns sweatshops? Interesting. When did they diversify into manufacturing?

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Plumpaquatsch]

Well, I'm sure the Vietnamese slaves who work in Samsung sweatshops for $1/hour will send you some of their money because you speak out on Samsung's behalf.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Plumpaquatsch]

Interesting factoid! Please tell my which brand of cellphone I should buy that is so generous to its laborers, making the most commoditized electronic product in the world?

According to China Labor Watch, pretty much any brand except for Apple.

Yup. Could be related to the fact that China Labor Watch didn't even look at any other company but Apple (or rather their suppliers). Hard to find any flaws with them that way.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[timmyf2371]

The suicide rate for Foxconn workers is actually lower than China as a whole. This could indicate that the workers at Foxconn are indeed happier than the norm.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Plumpaquatsch]

Well, Apple isn't Pegatron's only customer either. And if you are so cock sure that the conditions aren't the same - why don't you post actual numbers? Should be easy to do.

Re: Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Anonymous Coward]

a fairphone, i guess?

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[thegarbz]

Companies that use Foxonn.

Not all Foxconn contracts are equal. Do a bit more Googling.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[antdude]

I expected this list to be way longer.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[drinkypoo]

Well, Apple isn't Pegatron's only customer either. And if you are so cock sure that the conditions aren't the same - why don't you post actual numbers? Should be easy to do.

The prevailing wisdom is that Apple is worse, backed up by what we know so far. If you want to disagree with the prevailing wisdom, it's your job to provide a citation if you want to be taken seriously. The ball is in your court, sir.

Re: Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[nomadic]

Corrected for income, age, and health status?

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Anonymous Coward]

The prevailing wisdom is groupthink spurred on by activist media.

Way to be a winner, buddy.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Plumpaquatsch]

Well, Apple isn't Pegatron's only customer either. And if you are so cock sure that the conditions aren't the same - why don't you post actual numbers? Should be easy to do.

The prevailing wisdom is that Apple is worse, backed up by what we know so far. If you want to disagree with the prevailing wisdom, it's your job to provide a citation if you want to be taken seriously. The ball is in your court, sir.

Prevailing wisdom is that the reports are biased, because they only ever looked at Apple. Prove that they aren't biased before sending me to China. Heck, there are reports of other companies being worse ehich constantly get disregarded. Samsung poisoned it's workers for years for example. Never gets mentioned here, because they didn't make parts for Apple in that factory

Heck, you guys pointed to Mike Daisey's work as evidence until it was proven he made it all up.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Anonymous Coward]

>Anyone who buys an iPhone is complicit of this outrageous exploitation of human beings.
Anyone who buys an iPhone, (or anything at all really), is complicit of living in their own neighborhoods and buying what's available, at the process offered.

Although it's true that keeping one's money in a cookie jar & not spending it will bring companies to their knees, it is unrealistic to think that joe-shopper is deeply researching human rights issues at a factory on the other side of the planet. Not saying joe-shopper cheers for the workers' misfortune, merely that shoppers in one part of the world are thinking of their own circumstances.

You would need a VERY LARGE educational effort & ethics culture to even begin to make someone feel guilty enough to halt their spending. Why don't you tell the Chinese to stop buying overpriced Miller High Life 'the champagne of beers'? It's being marketed as a Western Ale akin to Krystal champagne and lifestyles of the rich & famous. Did you know that? And their money goes to MillerCoors and is spent on lobbying efforts which may affect China?

Right. Didn't think so. Why? Because they wake up on their side of the world and just want a beer. A cool, foreign beer, that makes them feel important. Kinda like an iDevice, no?

_

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Megol]

Then the prevailing wisdom isn't backed up with verifiable facts. Give us that if you want reasonable people to believe your version.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Uberbah]

Slashdot is for people with at least a working knowledge of search engines.

"That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence."
(Christopher Hitchens).

As for Apple and Foxxcon - good luck fucking that chicken, or finding a piece of electronics that isn't made by them, outside of Samsung. Even Sony uses Foxxcon.

Re: Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Anonymous Coward]

Who cares. Fake news to the contrary, those workers are not slaves. They're free to go back to their rice paddies if that's what they prefer. And apparently it's not.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[lucm]

Well, I'm sure the Vietnamese slaves who work in Samsung sweatshops for $1/hour will send you some of their money because you speak out on Samsung's behalf.

Discussing the crooked business practices of Apple is not the same as "speaking out on behalf of Samsung". It can be hard to fathom for a fanboi but not everyone is blinded by A Brand.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[lucm]

The prevailing wisdom is groupthink spurred on by activist media.

Wait, are you saying that the media are biased against Apple and that people who disagree with Apple shady business practices are the ones doing "groupthink"?

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Plumpaquatsch]

Well, I'm sure the Vietnamese slaves who work in Samsung sweatshops for $1/hour will send you some of their money because you speak out on Samsung's behalf.

Discussing the crooked business practices of Apple is not the same as "speaking out on behalf of Samsung".

In your case it is. Do they pay well?

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[david_thornley]

The media finds that "Apple phone workers mistreated" gets a lot more eyeballs than "Motorola phone workers mistreated". It isn't exactly "activist media", but it has the same effect.

As far as "Apple shady business practices" go, exactly what do you know about them and how? This looks like potential groupthink, and the fact you don't recognize that it could be makes it seem more likely.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[lucm]

The media finds that "Apple phone workers mistreated" gets a lot more eyeballs than "Motorola phone workers mistreated".

Maybe it's because Motorola workers are not mistreated. Lenovo has an excellent track record in that regard, unlike Apple.

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[lucm]

Well, I'm sure the Vietnamese slaves who work in Samsung sweatshops for $1/hour will send you some of their money because you speak out on Samsung's behalf.

Discussing the crooked business practices of Apple is not the same as "speaking out on behalf of Samsung".

In your case it is. Do they pay well?

Do you high-five yourself when you post this kind of childish reply? If you're not interested in having grown-up discussions why are you wasting your time here?

Re:Yes, Apple keeps the profit

[Plumpaquatsch]

Well, I'm sure the Vietnamese slaves who work in Samsung sweatshops for $1/hour will send you some of their money because you speak out on Samsung's behalf.

Discussing the crooked business practices of Apple is not the same as "speaking out on behalf of Samsung".

In your case it is. Do they pay well?

Do you high-five yourself when you post this kind of childish reply? If you're not interested in having grown-up discussions why are you wasting your time here?

Why would I want to have grown-up discussions with somebody who isn't? You are certainly not wise beyond your age. You just are a dumb troll, paid or not, who claims Apple is going down the chute for years now. Grow up. Not that I would want to have discussions with you then.

Funny

[Trogre]

I don't recall activating my new Android tablet, whatever that means.

Where do I sign up?

Re:Funny

[Plumpaquatsch]

I don't recall activating my new Android tablet, whatever that means.

Where do I sign up?

You install an app that uses Flurry Analytics. Done.

Re:Funny

[jareth-0205]

I don't recall activating my new Android tablet, whatever that means.

Where do I sign up?

You install an app that uses Flurry Analytics. Done.

Flurry isn't an ideal sampler though - it's much more used in iOS than Android apps, and seems to be persistently under-counting Android because of that.

Re:Funny

[Plumpaquatsch]

I don't recall activating my new Android tablet, whatever that means.

Where do I sign up?

You install an app that uses Flurry Analytics. Done.

Flurry isn't an ideal sampler though - it's much more used in iOS than Android apps, and seems to be persistently under-counting Android because of that.

Claim all the Fandroids, because Flurry proves that Android users use less apps. Which is easily shown by comparing cross platform apps that of course show usage patterns on both platforms fairly.

Re:Funny

[jareth-0205]

I don't recall activating my new Android tablet, whatever that means.

Where do I sign up?

You install an app that uses Flurry Analytics. Done.

Flurry isn't an ideal sampler though - it's much more used in iOS than Android apps, and seems to be persistently under-counting Android because of that.

Claim all the Fandroids, because Flurry proves that Android users use less apps. Which is easily shown by comparing cross platform apps that of course show usage patterns on both platforms fairly.

*Sigh*. Android users use less apps, yes we all know this. That also means doesn't it that the thing that's being claimed here can't be accurately measured from what Flurry can tell you. If Flurry only knows about a device when a suitable app is installed, then Flurry being less used for Android apps, and Android users installing less apps, is going to undercount Android *devices*. This article is trying to measure *device* numbers, which it's unsuitable for doing so. Give me comparison figures from Facebook, or some ubiquitous cross-platform app, but Flurry itself is flawed.

Re:Funny

[Plumpaquatsch]

*Sigh*. Android users use less apps, yes we all know this. That also means doesn't it that the thing that's being claimed here can't be accurately measured from what Flurry can tell you. If Flurry only knows about a device when a suitable app is installed, then Flurry being less used for Android apps, and Android users installing less apps, is going to undercount Android *devices*. This article is trying to measure *device* numbers, which it's unsuitable for doing so. Give me comparison figures from Facebook, or some ubiquitous cross-platform app, but Flurry itself is flawed.

So you admit counting all Android phones towards smartphone market share is bullshit because most are actually used as dumb- or feature-phones. And it doesn't really matter whether "Flurry being less used for Android apps" is actually even true - you just need to run one Flurry app once, and you are counted.

He's referring to Flurry's other big selling point: a trove of mobile-app-user data that is bigger in reach than Google and Facebook.*

More than 400,000 apps now use the tool and, in return, funnel much of that user data back to Flurry. Flurry thus has a pipe into more than 1.2 billion devices globally and is inside seven to ten apps per device. It continuously triangulates among them all, collecting on average 3 terabytes of data each day.

* On Flurry's reach: while the company sees app activity from 1.2 billion devices each month, Facebook’s last released figure for its mobile products was 819 million monthly active users. In May 2013 Google said it had activated 900 million Android devices in the last five years.

And those numbers are three years old. At that time a total of 421 million iPhones had been sold If you add that to Google's 900 million, and pretend that every single one of them was active at least once a month, Flurry would reach 90% of them.

And even if you pretended that all those phones were still in use and so were (a very optimistic) 100 million more across Windows, BlackBerrys and other app capable phones, and you pretend that Flurry was on every single one of the non.Android phones - Flurry would still see more than 2/3 of all Android phones.

Stop pretending until you can come up with some actual numbers instead of just innuendo.

Re:Funny

[jareth-0205]

So you admit counting all Android phones towards smartphone market share is bullshit because most are actually used as dumb- or feature-phones.

Bit of a leap from "fewer apps installed" to "most are used as dumb phones" don't you think? You seem to be very personally invested in OS usage patterns. If that makes you happy - go for it, I don't care.

Re:Funny

[Plumpaquatsch]

So you admit counting all Android phones towards smartphone market share is bullshit because most are actually used as dumb- or feature-phones.

Bit of a leap from "fewer apps installed" to "most are used as dumb phones" don't you think? You seem to be very personally invested in OS usage patterns. If that makes you happy - go for it, I don't care.

Hey, you are the guys making the really big leaps here, what is your sex drive for Google based on?

Re:Funny

[jareth-0205]

I am the 'guys'? There you go, making assumptions again. I'm open with Android's flaws, it has several. I don't feel the need to personally insult people who disagree with me, unlike you based on your posting history.

Re:Funny

[Plumpaquatsch]

Are you claiming you are the only Anti-Apple-Troll here? Are the other accounts your sock-puppets? Or are you just imagining things? And I don't care if you insult people with actual swear words - you are insulting my intelligence with your obnoxious stupidity. You and your admitted sock-puppets.

Re:Funny

[jareth-0205]

It must be a wonderful reality inside your head.

Re:Funny

[Plumpaquatsch]

It must be a wonderful reality inside your head.

Well, at least the reality inside my head is shared with most of the rest of the world, while all you guys have is your Collapsed Reality Distortion Bubble.

Big phones are the norm.

[SeaFox]

Phablets, or smartphones and tablets ranging in size from 5 inches to 6.9 inches, continued to grow in popularity.

Need to adjust that definition. 90% of Android phones now have screen of 5" or larger. It seems it's only once you hit 5.7" or above people really start throwing around the term "phablet" now.

Re:Big phones are the norm.

[Plumpaquatsch]

Phablets, or smartphones and tablets ranging in size from 5 inches to 6.9 inches, continued to grow in popularity.

Need to adjust that definition. 90% of Android phones now have screen of 5" or larger. It seems it's only once you hit 5.7" or above people really start throwing around the term "phablet" now.

Where did you get that idea? According to Google's own statistics, 90% of all screens are "small" or "normal" with "normal" ending somewhere below 5" on their vague "definition" chart. https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html . https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html#range

Re:Big phones are the norm.

[Anonymous Coward]

Phablets, or smartphones and tablets ranging in size from 5 inches to 6.9 inches, continued to grow in popularity.

Need to adjust that definition. 90% of Android phones now have screen of 5" or larger. It seems it's only once you hit 5.7" or above people really start throwing around the term "phablet" now.

Where did you get that idea? According to Google's own statistics, 90% of all screens are "small" or "normal" with "normal" ending somewhere below 5" on their vague "definition" chart. https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html . https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html#range

He got that idea from that damn message he quoted and is right in front of you now. And he's right - nobody should be calling a 5.2" phone (a very common size, but small by today's standards) a phablet.

Re:Big phones are the norm.

[unixisc]

I have seen people talk on them, holding them like phones next to their ears. Which looks weird

Re:Big phones are the norm.

[SeaFox]

Where did you get that idea? According to Google's own statistics, 90% of all screens are "small" or "normal" with "normal" ending somewhere below 5" on their vague "definition" chart. https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html . https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html#range

The documents you are citing appear to date back to Android 3.2 and are obviously out of date in regards to current handset specs. Average screen densities and diagonal measurements have grown quite a bit the last few years as manufactures try to one-up each other on numbers for marketing purposes.

Go on PhoneArena.com or GSMArena.com and do a search of Android handsets and sizes. As someone who has just recently bought I new phone, I can tell you from first-hand experience that the vast majority of Android phones are 5" or larger. Smaller-screened ones I've found are generally low-cost phones meant for sale as BYO or MVNO devices, and many were older leftovers as they were selling with Android 4.x or 5.0 (and are non-upgradeable). You might want to look at this previous comment I made on this.

Re:Big phones are the norm.

[Plumpaquatsch]

Where did you get that idea? According to Google's own statistics, 90% of all screens are "small" or "normal" with "normal" ending somewhere below 5" on their vague "definition" chart. https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html . https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html#range

The documents you are citing appear to date back to Android 3.2 and are obviously out of date in regards to current handset specs.

Well, the second link comes directly from the first, so it's hardly my fault if Google's documentation is out of date. More proof that they don't care about Android any more.

Go on PhoneArena.com or GSMArena.com and do a search of Android handsets and sizes.

Well, what I find is current Android phones with smaller screens than the original iPhone. Anyway, you are confusing released models with actual sales numbers across those models.

Samsung is the winner here

[lucm]

The interesting figure is that Samsung *increased* their new activations, going from 19% to 21%, in the same year that they had to recall every single one of their new phones because they exploded. Meanwhile, Apple activations went down again. I mean, it takes a real optimist to spin that as a win for Apple.

And it's a long-running trend.

2014: Apple 51%, Samsung 17%
2015: Apple 49%, Samsung 19%
2016: Apple 44%, Samsung 21%

Now all Samsung has to do is ship a phone that doesn't explode or doesn't catch fire and they'll probably get a tie with Apple within a year or two. All of this after Apple had a complete monopoly in this market just 5 years ago. They'll probably end up in business textbooks as a case study of how companies can go from winners to total obsolescence within a same decade.

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[Anonymous Coward]

Indeed! Just in time for Samsung to dump Android and move to Tizen. They hate Google more than Apple.

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[lucm]

Yeah don't get me wrong here, I'm not a fan of Samsung. I had a Samsung phone a while ago and it was the worst of the androids I ever had. Bloatware, terrible keyboard, awful battery life. But the fact remains that they're taking over the market from Apple and that's Apple's fault.

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[ceoyoyo]

Possibly. More likely they'll go into a textbook about how shipping few units with a large profit margin is a viable alternative to shipping many units with razor thin margins. Actually, they already have.

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[Anonymous Coward]

All of this after Apple had a complete monopoly in this market just 5 years ago

That never happened. See e.g. this page for a nice summary of how the market developed. Apple's market share never went over 30%.

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[Anonymous Coward]

I seem to recall Apple and Samsung were the only two significantly profitable cell phone manufacturers. Granted, an old stat. Still a 5% drop from last year isn't great for Apple, even if they are making more profit per device, they are certainly boxing themselves into the high end. Being a luxury brand is a valid strategy though, and they may be okay.
Still, with the bad year Samsung has had, that they are still able to grow market share for holiday activations is impressive.

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[Anonymous Coward]

I see percentages, not real numbers. In COMPARISON Apple is going down versus Samsung but that doesn't mean activations went down at all.

Aside from that Samsung didn't recall every single one of their new phones. Samsung makes a number of devices on this list aside from the Galaxy 7 and they're still making them today.

All of this after Apple had a complete monopoly in this market just 5 years ago.
 
Um, excuse me? I've been rocking a number of smart phones for more than 5 years. Just as a reference, Apple was making the iPhone 4 and 4s 5 years ago. Samsung was producing the Nexus. Motorola was already on Droid III. There was never an Apple monopoly.
 
  They'll probably end up in business textbooks as a case study of how companies can go from winners to total obsolescence within a same decade.
 
Haaza! Slashdot 2001: "[Microsoft] will probably end up in business textbooks as a case of how companies can go from winners to total obsolesce within a same decade."

Lol. You guys are really that clueless. At one point I said not to trust the business sense of the average Slashtard now I know not to trust their knowledge of the market that already was too. Too much fanboying. I wouldn't care as much but being modded up by Fandroid goosesteppers makes this even worse. Had this been an article about AGW your post would have been modded -1 troll and everyone would have beaten you up about your inability to understand statistics.

But I guess if it makes you feel better for some unknown reason... Another thing you guys don't seem to understand is that monocultures create shitty end results. Demanding that your platform of choice be the only platform (again, for some unknown reason you need this) only shows your ignorance of what really made Windows a steaming turd. Hint: It was nothing to do with it being Windows or Microsoft.

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[Anonymous Coward]

Selling mediocre smartphones at insane prices purely based on "image" and perception of "brand" will not work forever.. Soon even Apples most loyal customers will realize the Emperor really has no clothes. . .

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[Anonymous Coward]

The interesting figure is that Samsung *increased* their new activations, going from 19% to 21%, in the same year that they had to recall every single one of their new phones because they exploded.

The only surprise here is that the increase in Samsung activations is so small. Think about it – all the recalled Samsung phones will have been replaced with new Samsung phones, so each Note customer will have at least two activations.

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[jhecht]

Did Samsung count new units activated to replace the ones recalled before they blew up?

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[rbgaynor]

Last quarter Apple had 104% of the profits. I wouldn't call Samsung "significantly profitable." http://www.investors.com/news/...

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[SeaFox]

The interesting figure is that Samsung *increased* their new activations, going from 19% to 21%, in the same year that they had to recall every single one of their new phones because they exploded.

Uh, "every single one"? Last I checked Samsung makes more phones than the Galaxy Note 7.
Where were the recalls for the Galaxy S7, Galaxy A3/A5/A7, Galaxy J, etc.? I never heard about them.

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[lucm]

The interesting figure is that Samsung *increased* their new activations, going from 19% to 21%, in the same year that they had to recall every single one of their new phones because they exploded.

The only surprise here is that the increase in Samsung activations is so small. Think about it – all the recalled Samsung phones will have been replaced with new Samsung phones, so each Note customer will have at least two activations.

But it's just during the Christmas week not the whole year

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[lucm]

no, this was during the holidays which occurred months after the recall

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[lucm]

The interesting figure is that Samsung *increased* their new activations, going from 19% to 21%, in the same year that they had to recall every single one of their new phones because they exploded.

Uh, "every single one"? Last I checked Samsung makes more phones than the Galaxy Note 7.
Where were the recalls for the Galaxy S7, Galaxy A3/A5/A7, Galaxy J, etc.? I never heard about them.

Yes you are correct. But they did recall all the devices of that model and one would assume that the experience for users was bad and that the whole thing was a PR nightmare, which is even worse for a company that doesn't really have a huge brand following. And yet they're still increasing their share.

Re:Samsung is the winner here

[SeaFox]

Yes you are correct. But they did recall all the devices of that model and one would assume that the experience for users was bad and that the whole thing was a PR nightmare, which is even worse for a company that doesn't really have a huge brand following. And yet they're still increasing their share.

Samsung most certainly does have a large brand following. It's nothing like Apple's cult-like group as far as dedication, but people still get excited surmising on what the next Galaxy S will have, or even what's in store for the midrange (Galaxy A) trio since the styling and features of the S can find their way into them, too sometimes. At this point most Apple fans consider Samsung to the only "real competitor" Apple has in the marketplace. I think that's hogwash with LG and now Google's Pixel, but they only focus on the sales numbers of individual makers, so since Samsung has such a large chuck of Android...

Re: Samsung is the winner here

[baristabrian]

You only say that because you have a cheaply made piece of shit phone in YOUR pocket. Jealous much?

Yeah, because I didn't have a fucking choice.

[Anonymous Coward]

We had three iPhone 4S units in the family. All of them started to exhibit battery issues about a month ago. One had a dangerously swollen battery (which, according to Apple, is apparently "normal"). The other two refused to hold a charge. All three devices were happily running iOS 7.1.2.

We took them into the service centre, and had the batteries replaced for ~$100/pop. They were good solid phones, and in stellar condition for their age, so why should we upgrade?

Apparently Apple thought otherwise. I wasn't told this beforehand, but apparently "standard procedure" is to upgrade the software on the device prior to installing a new battery. Something about diagnostics- the tech basically said it was bullshit, the diagnostics from the older iOS software was identical to the new diagnostics, except for the version number- which Apple refuses to accept, and therefore will not ship the service centre a replacement battery.

So we got all three devices back with new batteries... running iOS 9.

Now they're virtually fucking useless.

It takes a good 10-20 seconds to open the phone app. I can have exactly one tab open in Safari, switching to any other tab causes that page to reload (which is great for my 3G data plan). Switching to another application causes the new application to re-launch itself (presumably because it got terminated in the background). Switching back to Safari will cause Safari to reload the active page. Before, I used to be able to have 3-4 apps open at the same time (without having them get terminated by the OS) and 4-5 tabs in Safari no problem.

Likewise, the new OS seems glitchy as fuck. Mail used to work fine with all my business IMAP accounts, now it's a crap shoot if half my inbox even loads (and it's a coin toss as to which half shows up). Even iCloud is a mess, some things are getting synced, others aren't. Almost nothing is working 100%. I've tried doing factory resets and setting up the phone from scratch, but it never makes any difference.

We've purchased exactly one replacement phone (an iPhone 7). The shit show that came with that (had to upgrade iTunes, except the new version of iTunes required us to upgrade the OS as well, which broke a whole bunch of other stuff)... I don't know.

We've still got a week to return that phone, and I honestly think we're going to do that and just switch to Android.

I'm tired of Apple's shit. It's pretty clear that a large part of their business comes from planned obsolescence and forcing people to upgrade, rather then producing products that people actually want to go out and buy. And I've had enough. They can ram their activation and adoption numbers up their ass for all I care.

Re: Yeah, because I didn't have a fucking choice.

[Anonymous Coward]

There's no suitable choices for a phone os out there anymore. I've used them all and they're all crap. I gave up and you will too by the sounds of it.
Good luck, I bought myself a new radio instead.

Re:Yeah, because I didn't have a fucking choice.

[unixisc]

I've never used an iPhone for business, and neither do I use it for the bulk of my work. My main use of it is doing video calls using either FaceTime or WhatsApp. For my work, since my employer uses Google to host their email, I simply use my Android phone - a Moto X. From there, I use Hangouts, Mail and the other applications, as well as 8x8's VOIP package

That's for this scenario. Had my employer used an MS Exchange server, I'd have gone w/ a Lumia. In fact, if a business licenses Office 365, they'd get 5 accounts each w/ 1TB of OneDrive storage. One downside is that there were no good video calling apps for it, but I believe that may have changed since WhatsApp added video calling to their package.

Re:Yeah, because I didn't have a fucking choice.

[ceoyoyo]

You're on Slashdot, so assuming you can use a screwdriver, you can replace the battery in an Apple phone in about ten minutes, for about $20. Batteries on Amazon, or lots of other online retailers. They even come with screwdrivers for the annoying security screws.

It's impressive that your batteries lasted 5+ years.

Re:Yeah, because I didn't have a fucking choice.

[antdude]

This 4S, with iOS v9.3.5, still works even though and unsupported. Its battery hasn't blown up, but its life has shrunk. Pokemon Go + Cellular can drain it in 30 minutes. :( I doubt I will replace its battery since it is old and slow since I got it for free from my king ant who didn't want it anymore.

Re:Yeah, because I didn't have a fucking choice.

[jareth-0205]

Yeah - this is exactly my worry about the enforced OS upgrades. It's all well-and-good having your device upgraded to the latest version, but if that version is next to unusable then what have you really gained?

I'm hardly saying that the Android situation is great, but one side-effect is that old devices don't get upgraded into obsolescence, and Android app developers don't assume that everyone's running on the latest OS like iOS developers do so you can usually still use the apps you want.

Re:Yeah, because I didn't have a fucking choice.

[Just Some Guy]

TL;DR you got five years out of a device that's build for 2-3, and it still works even though it's 5 generations obsolete. It does suck that they forcibly upgraded you past the 2.5 year old version with unpatched security vulnerabilities that you'd been enjoying, but pick yer poison.

Re:Yeah, because I didn't have a fucking choice.

[Anonymous Coward]

I had this happen to be with, (of all things) a BlackBerry. I went in for a protective case, the staff held my phone to size it up & recommend a case for it. But he plugged it in & upgraded my OS, (I was too ignorant to realize what was going on).

After his stellar help, the device no longer recognized non-bb chargers, data cords, and crippled a few other conveniences I had going.

So yes please tell We can all find an alternate solution I am sure.

Re:Yeah, because I didn't have a fucking choice.

[Zerohm]

It's a good thing you don't like updating your OS, because with Android you truly will not have a choice.

What happened to Apple?

[Anonymous Coward]

I miss the old Apple.

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

Now you can't even change the RAM.

Re:What happened to Apple?

[amiga3D]

Steve Jobs died and it's been downhill since. Considering how far up the mountain they were it looks as if it'll take another 5 years or so for them to fall to where Samsung is.

Re:What happened to Apple?

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple was becoming shitty years before Jobs died. It started to go wrong a little over ten years ago.

Re:What happened to Apple?

[amiga3D]

I was pretty happy until Lion was released. That was the first time my computer actually slowed down after an upgrade. I now have a 2012 Macbook Pro 15" model and it may be the last Mac I buy. I don't really like the choices they've made since then.

AirPods

[dohzer]

AirPods: The gift that requires you to keep on giving.

Re:Samsung is on fire

[Anonymous Coward]

hehehe modded "Flamebait" hehehe

Flurry?

[93 Escort Wagon]

Isn't that a frozen dessert sold at McDonalds?

Lack of transparency on methodology

[Anonymous Coward]

They - Flurry Analytics - have no way to directly track the device activation as those mobile devices only talks to Apple or Google during activation. I'm guessing what they track is based on some of the app installs that they track, thus their estimate is severely biased / potentially missing large chunk of users. My guess is that significant chunk of users don't bother installing extra apps that are outside the top ones (Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple) who have their own analytics thus would not share their app data with other analytics firms. So unless they show actual absolute number of estimated new device activations and/or have a separate independent data on how much their own methodology has a hole in their coverage, this is likely a bullshit study.

Activated tablets

[unixisc]

They're probably talking about tablets w/ cellular capabilities that can be added to the carrier's network. You could buy a cellular iPad or Galaxy tab at a Best Buys, Costco or any such store, and get it activated while you're there

Re:Activated tablets

[Anonymous Coward]

Where did they get the data from Chinese mobile companies? Is this US only?

Re:Activated tablets

[Anonymous Coward]

For cellular stuff, you just put in your SIM card and it works. Or maybe they are talking about freshly activated SIM cards?

Re:Activated tablets

[unixisc]

True, except for Verizon and Sprint. Maybe they are talking about a combination of selling someone a tablet and activating the cellular service on the tablet

How do they know they were gifts?

[mbeckman]

"Apple's iPhone and iPad were the most popular mobile devices gifted during the holidays this year."

They could have been purchased for the end-of-year tax write off.

Device activations?

[Anonymous Coward]

What is a device activation? And why is Apple's market share in device activations three times as large as it is in sales?

profit share vs market share

[Anonymous Coward]

Now all Samsung has to do is ship a phone that doesn't explode or doesn't catch fire and they'll probably get a tie with Apple within a year or two.

That's for units shipped. But how much money are each of them making? Apple seems to be taking most of the "profit share".

Apple's supposed planned obsolescence

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, and that 56% accounts for 30% of device revenue, 20% of app sales, and only 10% of devices with the newest OS installed.

You're looking at this ass backwards. The huge profit margin and the planned obsolescence that is at the core of Apple business model is the exact reason why they are losing their grip on the market.

A quarter of devices are still on KitKat (4.4), from three years ago, with a sizable percentage on Jelly Bean (4.3):

          https://www.appbrain.com/stats/top-android-sdk-versions
        https://www.statista.com/statistics/271774/

Apple claims that about 2/3 of devices are running on iOS 10 (2016), and just under a third are on iOS 9 (2015):

        https://developer.apple.com/support/app-store/
        https://david-smith.org/iosversionstats/

Given that iOS products are supported for (at least) three years with software updates, while most Android devices get no updates after six months, I do not think Apple is the one with a planned obsolescence problem. Or, if you think Apples does, other manufacturers are a lot worse (IMHO).

So what, a better comparison

[p51d007]

Would be Apple versus "Android"...since there are basically TWO OS's, Apple and Android. Now, given that, it would show more android devices sold, than apple.

Apple saved me money this year

[bobm]

Loyal Apple fan for years but this year I just finally gave up. I was due for a laptop upgrade but was holding out for > 16G. That didn't happen and there is no way I'll be going to the new MBP. Saved > 2k there.

Then I was going to get the Apple TV but it doesn't play nicely with my Harmony hub so I decided to do an Amazon Fire TV. It's impressive, 4k, runs Plex and everything I need, I can still AirPlay (granted I needed to buy an app for that but I can live with that) and it's 1/2 the price of an apple tv.

I was also going to go from my 5s to the new phone (every 2 or 3 years it seems) but the 7 had too much courage for me and I use a headset for over an hour a day and although I tried bluetooth headset, a wired headset just works.

So Apple saved me a bunch of money and that is going to my new motorcycle fund, thank you apple.

Gift horse in the mouth

[rat_herder]

I don't see one comment here that takes a positive view on this story. Is it really surprising? A company with a fruitful focus on design, customer satisfaction and privacy and appears to continue being pretty successful.

I'm usually impressed that Apple managed to demonstrated the race to the bottom with a cheapest at all costs approach wasn't the only way to succeed in consumer electronics. Google Microsoft and Samsung have been forced to follow and everyone wins. Who cares what happens over the next 10 years. Right now we have an awesome array of gadgets with healthy competing ecosystems to choose from.