Asian countries tired of the same old thing as Samsung takes market share from Apple

3. pokerc posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:13 43 1

Excuses excuses

21. Mxyzptlk posted on 27 Jan 2013, 20:03 2 35

It's the fact of the matter. Call it what you want.

29. Whateverman posted on 27 Jan 2013, 20:23 30 1

"Wealthy Asians in Singapore and Hong Kong are getting tired of the same old thing"

That kinda blows a hole in your theory. The budget friendly iPhone would still be the same old iPhone. And Android isn't the only option anymore. WP8 looks really good and Blackberry is trying to make a comeback. The future of iOS ain't lookin to bright.

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33. Droid_X_Doug posted on 27 Jan 2013, 21:10 13 0

Competition sucks, which is why Steve resorted to litigating. However, it doesn't look like that strategy is panning out for Apple.

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4. jan25 posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:16 14 0

Yeah but Apple's budget phone wouldn't be as budgety as other Android handsets, without notable sacrifices. Take the iPad mini as an example.

5. stychill posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:20 9 1

Ios is just uninteresting to me and many others. However you do have a bit of a point if there was a budget iphone android's cut of overall marketshare wouldn't be as high as it is. To say "they'd dominate the market" is just plain over exaggeration on your part.

10. Berzerk000 posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:36 10 1

Not really. Apple does have budget devices, it's the previous generation device. Guess what happened when the iPhone 5 came out? Apple dropped the price of the iPhone 4/4S. It happens every year, the previous generation or two gets bumped down in price to appeal to the budget crowd of people.

17. stychill posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:48 6 0

That's true i completely forgot about that it happens with every manufacturer.

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6. rusticguy posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:23 5 0

Those who "switch" from buying the so called "cool" phone spend the same moola elsewhere and feel cooler now ... that said even budget phones are pushing towards 5 inch and apple's budget phone wouold start at 3.5 i guess so will compete well with Nokia's ASHA if they do :)

7. ph00ny posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:32 3 0

you mean iphone 4/4s?

8. Berzerk000 posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:34 9 0

Or maybe they're just tired of iOS; or, because (like the article quotes, you should read more often) the iPhone is so common now that they've lost their cool factor which was, apparently, a major selling point. Or maybe it's a mix of the two;

You have two products here. One runs Android, one runs iOS. Both have similar price points, and each of them runs their respective software just as good as the other. Last year, most of everyone would've chosen the iPhone because of the "cool factor" and brand recognition it had. Now however, since iPhones have become so common that they're no longer cool, and now both the Android device and iPhone are now equal in terms of recognition.

So, if you have two similar products in terms of performance, price, and popularity; how would you choose one over the other? Well, the OS finally comes into factor, and now more people are choosing Android.

Face it, the main selling point of Apple products is their popularity, not if they're actually good or not. How else would market share for Apple go down in 12% and Android gets 23% up in the same time span, which just so happens to be the year that the Galaxy S3 and Note II were released.

15. wendygarett posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:47 3 4

Agree on that, Singapore is a major example... And you will shock and freaking scary when all citizens holding the iphone4/4s running around, it just too mainstream and scary, and it won't make you special if you hold one as well :(

11. someones4 posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:40 20 0

The iPhone IS a budget Android phone. Specs-wise.

44. nyuvo posted on 27 Jan 2013, 22:43 1 0

To be quite honest the latest iPhone is on par with the galaxy s3 performance wise. I own an international s3 and my gf has a 64gb iPhone5 and if anything games actually run faster/the same speed on her iPhone. Games aside, my screen is 4.8" and HD, I have features such as multi-window and pop up play and a battery which lasts much much longer.

13. umadd (banned) posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:41 16 0

If Apple released a budget friendly iPhone either

1) No one would buy the expensive iPhone

or

2) The budget iPhone will have significant performance differences from the expensive iPhone. Apple's reputation will be dented from frustrated users.

To further back up my point: the older iPhone models are laggy on latest iOS releases.

Stay retarded and buttmad

14. metalpoet (unregistered) posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:43 3 0

Maybe so, honestly it would be nice if apple had several different models f phones. a 4' w/ 8mp camera base model, a 4.3' w/ 12mp camera intermediate model, and a 4'7 w/ 13mp camera premium model. Apple has the knowledge(and the trillions of patents) to make a truly innovative device. They just have to start looking outside the norm and think outside the box.

Prices:
4'= $99.99
4.3'= $149.99
4.7'= $199.99
And please god get out of the tablet market!

16. jroc74 posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:48 0 0

They already do...its called the 3GS....the iPhone 4, 4S too if you factor in on contract prices. On Verizon you can get the iPhone 4 retail for about the price of a decent Android thats sold thru the Play Store.

I think its too lil too late for Apple and the cheaper models. Most ppl already tried something else....and they like the something else. Whether its Android or WP.

Apple released the iPad mini...and all it did so far is spread the market share between the big model and that. Android tablets are still catching up on the iPad after the Mini was released.

22. jroc74 posted on 27 Jan 2013, 20:05 1 0

What I mean about the iPhone 4 and decent Android phones off contract....you can get both off contract for about the same price.

On contract...the 4 is free and the 4S is $99. Its not about cheaper phones...dont fall for Gizmodo's hype.

27. voxmarc posted on 27 Jan 2013, 20:18 3 0

imagine Apple making budget phones...iPhone iSucks already then it will be double iSucks....

38. speckledapple posted on 27 Jan 2013, 21:45 1 1

I dont think it is the budget variants. The reason is because phones like the Galaxy Note 2 are far from budget. But the device itself is very comprehensive not to mention down right top notch. It offers more. Personally, I never undertsood buying simply for a status symbol but just like the girl in the article said, she wanted a bigger screen and better battery life. You cant argue with that.

39. protozeloz posted on 27 Jan 2013, 21:52 4 0

Where I've heard this before? Oh yeah

If Verizon had the iPhone they would dominate the market
If the iPhone was on all mayor carriers they would dominate the market
If there was a smaller iPad

I'm still waiting for that to happen

45. jroc74 posted on 27 Jan 2013, 23:30 0 0

lol...Exactly.

I am still waiting for the Death of Android when Verizon gets the iPhone. Been waiting for 2 years now...On that note....I just seen an ad on Verizon website for the iPhone 5:

"Its the biggest thing to happen to iPhone since iPhone"

They have been using that exact same ad since the iPhone first came to Verizon...lol.

41. galokjai posted on 27 Jan 2013, 22:10 1 0

you should do some research before talking, people in Asia change cell phones every three months. If you think people in Hong Kong and Singapore are poor, you might want to not live under a rock.

42. 14545 posted on 27 Jan 2013, 22:16 3 0

I get you don't have a brain to think for yourself, but did you actually *gasp* READ THE ARTICLE?
"Wealthy Asians in Singapore and Hong Kong are getting tired of the same old thing when it comes to buying a new smartphone. Singapore, which back in 2010 led the globe in iOS use per capita, is seeing a change in smartphone buying habits and Korean based Samsung is the beneficiary."

You do realize that Singapore has the highest concentration of millionaires and some of the highest wages in the world. So I *highly* doubt that given these former iOS users are SWITCHING to something else, that it is because everything else is just "budget" friendly. iOS is stale, and the barely change anything release after release. So why would people continue to upgrade to new iOS products when nothing changes outside of minor hardware upgrades?

46. jroc74 posted on 27 Jan 2013, 23:34 0 0

And the very first word in the article was...wealthy. I admit I missed that too...lol.

Well...there you go....I highly doubt wealthy ppl over there are all of a sudden buying cheaper phones. They are just gettign what the like. And if they are wealthy....its a good chance they're getting phones off contract, retail...just because they can.

52. Luuthian posted on 28 Jan 2013, 02:40 1 0

I don't think it has anything to do with phone price. I think a number of people had already formed in their mind the demise of Apple with Steve Jobs.

Think about this. Except for the iPhone 4, the product line has barely seen anything that resembles massive change in a good long time. And all of that, up until the current iPhone 5, was Steve's vision. Only now is Apple going it alone, and only now are people realizing that the operating system hasn't changed in many years. If he was still here would people still be unsatisfied? Or did it take his death to make people realize Apple was spinning it's wheels for some time, even with Jobs there to guide it?

The only other catalyst out there is a, finally, good Android operating system and phones with larger screens. Aside from that... The only thing that changed was Job's massively publicized death. I think Apple's real problem stems from image and premediated assumptions following the passing of Steve Jobs. The stale OS is a big factor, but Jobs passing was the real blow to Apple's image.

53. whencatsruletheworld posted on 28 Jan 2013, 02:49 1 0

You might be surprised that phones like iPhone 5 cost up to $450 on contract. GS3 roughly around $350 and slightly higher for GN2. If u ever travel to Singapore or Hongkong, you will rarely see anyone using budget phones. Try riding the bus or the train here. 95% will be holding a High end smartphone like the ONE X, GS3, GN2, IP5 or the Lumia Series

Lets not get started on Tablets as well.

Im a Singaporean. i know.

54. frydaexiii posted on 28 Jan 2013, 07:03 2 0

Yeah, bulls**t...I study and spend most of my time in Singapore, and here, they don't sell budget models (Samsung Galaxy S3 mini/Y etc.)unless they're parallel imports off contract, other than that, on a 2 year contract from a carrier, with $0 you can get something as good as a HTC One S, so Singapore is practically free of cheap low budget models. And just step into the train and you can already see, most phones you se are S3s or Note2s and I kid you not there are more iPhone 4/4Ss(I can't tell) than iPhone 5s out there in the wild.

56. donfem posted on 28 Jan 2013, 12:23 0 0

Excuses galore. Now it is "budget". Next it will be "SCREEN SIZE", CEO?

9. maxis3G (unregistered) posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:35 8 0

and just keep better
and better... :)

12. wendygarett posted on 27 Jan 2013, 19:40 5 2

I have to agree to that, android just simply better...
I have two android, oneX and nexus7... And I really like the way they operate, especially when it comes to internet browser...

Unfortunately, most Google service is not available in Asia, such as Google current, even in Google now, I can only treat it as search engine... Can't make a flight, can't watch a local stock market etc, I have no choice but to use siri instead... That's why I always make sure to carry both, ios and android...

soon I may consider to get at least one wp8 and bb10, together and team up on my current devices :)

26. networkdood posted on 27 Jan 2013, 20:17 1 0

lol, you, who tells apple to 'take my money' on every story, have 2 Android devices? lol, ok

31. wendygarett posted on 27 Jan 2013, 20:51 2 1

You haven't know? That's ok, I forgive you :)

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28. IU_Lover posted on 27 Jan 2013, 20:21 3 0

Lucky for Singapore where i live.... There are still services such as Gmaps with voice turn by turn navigation and Google currents. But I'm not sure of the flight schedules though, never tried it before

20. Mxyzptlk posted on 27 Jan 2013, 20:02 0 12

Better is very subjective.

55. frydaexiii posted on 28 Jan 2013, 09:11 0 0

Says the guy going everywhere saying "iOS is better"

57. donfem posted on 28 Jan 2013, 12:26 0 0

Exactly.. Which is why free thinkers disagree with the notion of iphone as a "better" or superior phone.

58. donfem posted on 28 Jan 2013, 12:27 0 0

You probably are not too brilliant to note that China's economy is bouyant

47. jroc74 posted on 27 Jan 2013, 23:39 2 0

"Most of the world's population loves to customize to taste in order to show their personality."

"How can anyone argue this lifelong fundamental quest to personalize."

In case anyone missed it. We can accept that ppl like to customize phones by using cases, accessories,..but not the phone software? PPl customize their cars....ppl decorate their apts, houses a certain way. Ppl personalize their PC's a certain way. Ppl get tattoos, ppl get their hair cut or done a certain way.

Its shouldnt be hard to imagine ppl customize their phone's software. Especially when all it takes is a visit to the Play Store. You dont need to root or ROM to do lots of customization.

48. jroc74 posted on 27 Jan 2013, 23:45 0 0

My kids mother is very non techie...doesnt know the first thing about root or ROMs...but downloaded background apps from the Play Store.

49. jsdechavez posted on 28 Jan 2013, 00:02 0 0

That is so mean and wrong. There's a lot of Americans who don't even know their grammar and fractions.