Are Cheap Handsets the Real Reason Why Android is Popular?

Ray8

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Sam Biddie, a senior staff writer at Gizmodo, stoked the flames of debate with an article that proposes the reason why Android is so popular and able to outsell the iPhone is because there are a lot of "marginal" devices that "can be sold like bags of Doritos or bargain-bin sweaters." He's talking about the low-end Android handsets that are priced to move, rather than high-end phones like the Galaxy S III.

Android is stomping all over iOS in market share. According to data compiled by International Data Corporation (IDC), Android was installed on 75 percent of the 181.1 million smartphones shipped around the world in the third quarter of 2012, while iOS was on 15 percent of the devices.

Are Cheap Handsets the Real Reason Why Android is Popular? | Maximum PC

Something to ponder?
 

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Price is probably part of the Android success story. Many people are not prepared to pay the Apple prices - or they just don't have that kind of money. Especially since they seem to come out with a new one every year.

The same goes for tablets. With a $199 Nexus 7 you can do the same (or more) as with a mini iPad that costs a lot more money.

Part of the Android success is also the excellent Google Playstore where most apps are free and in part the Amazon apps store.
 

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Yes, my point in placing this in the General Discussion section was that it could be very instructional and relevant as to what might happen with Windows RT tablets and Windows phones. This is the mountain that must be overcome by Microsoft if their new products are to have any impact.

We already have Samsung considering alternative OSes to Android and even Nokia hasn't ruled out similar thoughts. That's my concern with some of the new Microsoft products, if they aren't providing something truly significant, yet charging premium prices, they won't be going anywhere.
 

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Yes, my point in placing this in the General Discussion section was that it could be very instructional and relevant as to what might happen with Windows RT tablets and Windows phones. This is the mountain that must be overcome by Microsoft if their new products are to have any impact.

We already have Samsung considering alternative OSes to Android and even Nokia hasn't ruled out similar thoughts. That's my concern with some of the new Microsoft products, if they aren't providing something truly significant, yet charging premium prices, they won't be going anywhere.

Spot on Ray8. Microsoft should learn the lesson of Android when competing with Apple -- Let Apple have the premium market and then deliver a quality product at less cost for the masses. I really like my ASUS Windows RT tablet cause I have specific needs that it meets. But why would the average media consuming person pay $499 for a Surface when they could buy an iPad for the same dollars -- or better yet, a Nexus 7 for half the cost?
 
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That's part of the story I think with android. The price, along with people not needing real high end features that android 4 and iphone have are also what is making up the market share of it. Consider the fact that the cheapo handsets running android are running a variant of version 2.xx. Those handsets don't have good high end features. That's the larger chunk of that. But I don't know if one could really say it's popular in a sense it's well liked. Even recently, android is still third after Windows Phone and iphone in that regard. Popular as being used a lot? Yes. Popular because it's used a lot because it's less expensive? Yes.

Also, android 4 handsets are basically the best iphone ever, they outdo the iphone in literally EVERY category, except possibly security and malware. What took Windows 15 years to do took android about three years to do.
Android malware to reach 1 million cases in 2013

Now, as for say, Windows and Windows Phone, this is different. Nokia has a genuine dual core Windows Phone 8, the Lumia 620, that costs roughly 200 dollars US. They will be targeting developing markets with that mostly. They also have the Lumia 920 for their higher end in developed markets, mainly it seems with contract carriers. In the US, people will buy high end phones than anything because they're usually 100 dollars with a new expensive two year contract they're locked into.

For Windows tablets, yes, those prices need to be lower. Unless if you're specifically going for a tablet PC, a mid range laptop will picked probably over the higher end tablet. Why the tablet PCs are so pricy is beyond me, but that will most likely change later this year when OEMs get their poop in a group and react to a PC market where people want lower prices. I've personally seen people have 500 dollars as their cap when it comes time to buy a laptop, not 800 or 900 or 1,000.
 

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Maybe Microsoft is not looking at competing against Android, but only with Apple. It just could be that MS wants to keep their Surface/RT tablets as high level devices. Also, MS could be looking more for the Surface Pro to be used at a corporate level where it has a chance to compete with Apple. As most of you know MS is looking at working with Dell by giving them the capital to become a private company, hence this could also be one of the reason; a chance to stay on the ground floor in manufacture of MS products in corporation with Dell. . .Just a thought.
 

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My daughter prefers and uses Android over iPhone because she thinks the iPhone user interface is "for dummies" (her words).
 

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Speaking of iphones and dummies... :D

The other day at the mall, I went to the att store to oogle at the red Nokia Lumia 920, and I overheard this teenage girl that asked the sales person if the iphone 5 was the one with the holographic keyboard.

:doh:
 

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Speaking of iphones and dummies... :D

The other day at the mall, I went to the att store to oogle at the red Nokia Lumia 920, and I overheard this teenage girl that asked the sales person if the iphone 5 was the one with the holographic keyboard.

:doh:

LOL, holographic keyboard? :confused:
 

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