i.am.sagar

iPhone and the Android market share…
This Washington Post article was an interesting read, but I can’t help but share my perspective on it, so here it goes.  First off, let me just say in the interest of full disclosure that i’m an apple fan-boy and my opinion is quite biased.  That being said, I do want to present a different way of looking at the whole picture.  While Android is an OS platform developed by Google, it can run on a number of devices and service providers networks.  In contrast, the iPhone is the device itself.  This article is not comparing Android market share to iOS market share, though that I would argue would be a better comparison if one wants to argue the popularity of the platform itself.  What this article does is compares Apples and oranges if you will.  
iOS runs on a few platforms; namely the iPhone, the iPod touch, the iPad, and now the Apple TV and the iPod Nano.  The same day this article was released, CNN ran a story headlined - iPad adoption rate fastest in electronics product history.  On the flip side one could argue that the Washington post story was comparing the smartphone market.  In that respect, it is a good measure to look at what “platforms” are most popular in the market place.  For that argument though, one must not ignore the fact that the iPhone is only available for a subset of carriers that the Android based devices are available for.  Since Android devices exist for both CDMA and GSM networks in the US, it is again comparing apples and oranges.  A fair comparison would be to see how many AT&T customers choose Android devices over the iPhone as that would represent user preference given all things being equal.  The Washington Post article also doesn’t provide specifics of the data so it’s not clear whether these numbers are global or US only.  That’s just bad reporting.
Reading the article, one could draw the conclusion that, all things being equal, a buyer would prefer the Android device over the iPhone (ignoring the blackberry reference for a minute). An Apple fan like myself would tell you that, having compared both platforms, my opinion is that the Apple devices is a highly integrated smartphone with a much better over-all user experience.  That being said, it does have some limitations in terms of “openness” which the Android platform does not.  I would argue that there are tradeoffs when you talk about openness, and an “open source” platform is always going to have some advantages over the proprietary platforms.  As a user, I would decide what works best for me and what i’m willing to compromise on.  Now mind you, I and my wife both own iPhones (3GS for me, and iPhone 4 for her), we own an iPad, a Mac Book, and even the legacy Apple TV.  I want these devices to play nicely and the draw for me in a large part is the tight integration.  
If the Apple iPhone was available today on the Verizon network (something that is expected to happen with the roll-out of the LTE network), I would expect to see a lot of switchers to the iPhone.  There are always going to be haters, but the Apple brand identify is stronger and the user experience far ahead of it’s counterparts.  Look at the Android phones in the marketplace.  They look like iPhone copycats.  The level of innovation is not game changing.  It is merely taking the things that people complain about for the iPhone, and providing those.  The first generation iPhone with the aluminum body was better designed than most Android phones out today.  When Apple releases an iPhone, it is a media event.  When Motorola, HTC, or Samsung introduce a smartphone running Android, it’s covered in the tech blogs, but you don’t see lines out the door at their retail outlets.  
Now, if I were Apple, I would certainly be watching carefully and making sure that the competition is not running away with the segment of the market that the Cupertino company has identified as their target.  I would also keep a close eye on patent infringements.  With each generation of the iPhone, Apple has gotten closer to addressing the consumers big demands.  With the recent changes to their App store terms of service, they are also approving a lot of the applications that were historically rejected.  The next generation of the iPhone needs to be a game changer once again.  The current iPhone 4 in many ways is the same device that was introduced in 2007.  While there have been many hardware improvements, the real innovation has been in the software, primarily the iOS and the introduction of the App Store.  What I would expect to see continue is the thriving accessory market that is building some cutting edge devices, and some even leveraging the hardware API’s that Apple introduced with the current version of the OS.  
This is where the Android market is missing out a bit.  No accessory manufacturer is going to build products for every Android phone that’s out there.  You may see some of the more popular ones like the Droid get some love from the larger accessory makers, but its’ not across the board by any means.  Consumers will also learn that not every Android phone can get the latest version of the OS when it’s available to the masses.  Some of the older devices may never get an OS upgrade.  Apple gets grief for not supporting the latest OS on the first generation iPhone.  It’s not nearly as bad in the Apple camp though.  I installed iOS4 on my 3GS with no issues.  
So to summarize, the iPhone hates can do what they do best, but media outlets should provide the right perspective when reporting on the mobile market.  It’s one thing to beat-up on the top dog, and the iPhone is the trend-setter here.  We’re going to see the same thing when the tablets come out rolling.  Look at when Apple introduced the iPad, and look at every other device manufacturer trying to come out with copycat devices.  Do you think Apple is sitting still? Hardly!  The iPad was years in production and the unified OS is going to make it easier for Apple to introduce many more devices over the next few years.  The likes of Motorola, HTC, and Samsung are going to jump on every bandwagon, Windows Phone 7 included.  That makes sense for them to do, and the competitive landscape is great for the consumer.  
Consumers should get the devices they like that do what they want them to do.  They shouldn’t get caught up in the hype.  If you’re currently an AT&T subscriber, or don’t have an issue switching, you have the choice.  The rest of you don’t really so why bother.