In China, Android is blowing away iOS; Symbian leads Apple as of the end of last year
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Some of the low iOS share could be blamed on Apple's decision not to allow the device to be purchased at its brick and mortar stores. That has been in the case since violence at one Apple Store the day of the Apple iPhone 4S launch forced the Cupertino based tech firm to halt sales at its stores. The unit can still be purchased online on Apple's website and at the retail locations of the two carriers that sell the phone in the country, China Telecom and China Unicom.
The report also notes that since the Apple iPhone is considered a status symbol in the country, the lack of any outwardly change in appearance between the Apple iPhone 4 and the Apple iPhone 4S gave those Chinese concerned about their image, less of a reason to upgrade and buy a new model.
Earlier this year, one international brokerage firm predicted that Apple would sell 40 million units of the iPhone in China in 2013. The big question is how many of those purchases will be made at the expense of an Android sale.
source: MacWorld via AndroidCentral
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59 Comments
1. biophone posted on 15 Apr 2012, 00:53 12 10
Does this count all iphoney devices sold. Because if it did ios would dominate.
10. bbblader posted on 15 Apr 2012, 03:12 8 13
wow look at you trying to count even fake iOS devices just because apple doesn't have good marketshare
pathetic
14. Veigald posted on 15 Apr 2012, 03:28 20 1
wow, look at you not being able to understand sarcasm...
15. StreetNerd posted on 15 Apr 2012, 03:45 9 1
lolololololol +1
41. biophone posted on 15 Apr 2012, 10:55 7 0
Well golly atleast someone has a sense of sarcasm. +1 for you :).
56. Raptor9142 posted on 16 Apr 2012, 04:06 0 0
if ppl arent gona buy ios phones that would purpose for ios remains ?? :D
17. remixfa posted on 15 Apr 2012, 03:48 17 2
since its going by OS and not device, i would say yea it includes all iOS devices sold.
dominate? lol, not at apple's pricing. minimum wage in america is what.. 7.50 an hour. ipad factory workers get like 0.60 cents an hour. Only the top few percent in china can afford a shiny new iphone.
Apple doesnt want marketshare, they want pure profit. They are not fighting the same war.
21. rf1975 posted on 15 Apr 2012, 05:41 7 0
Agree. In china you can find cheep Android / Symbian devices as many as you want. Most of the people can not afford a iPhone or iPad in china.
42. biophone posted on 15 Apr 2012, 10:58 5 0
Yea but chinese can afford iphoney devices with a pear on the back.
On a setious not yep ios isn't fighting the market share war apple is fighting the profit war. Completly agree with your post.
43. taco50 (banned) posted on 15 Apr 2012, 11:48 8 4
One of the few times I agree with you. Apple and Google aren't fighting the same battle with the mobile OS game. Android is going after market share while Apple goes after profit on hardware sales.
Both are successful in what they do.
47. ZEUS.the.thunder.god posted on 15 Apr 2012, 16:11 3 0
its very rare that you talk sense taco so gotta agree with you. +1 for you.
48. remixfa posted on 15 Apr 2012, 17:42 7 0
not only did your comment have merrit and make sense.. you also agreed with me. taco, have you been replaced by aliens? can we keep the new alien replacement? :)
52. biophone posted on 15 Apr 2012, 19:54 5 0
I second that motion.
59. jmoita2 posted on 16 Apr 2012, 15:23 0 0
I vote Aye!!
53. taco50 (banned) posted on 16 Apr 2012, 00:09 1 3
I will ignore how ignorant you are about China's economy. There's a big difference in lifestyle between major cities and rural areas. The poor Chinese you refer to working in factories come from rural areas. Chinese in major cities enjoy the same lifestyle and economics as Americans. Considering China's population there's 100's of millions of well of Chinese that can afford iPhones. They probably live better than you Remix.
54. thelegend6657 posted on 16 Apr 2012, 01:31 1 0
Depends on where you are .
What Foxconn pays those workers are at the countryside
In the city like Beijing and shanghai there's rich people everywhere and iPhones everywhere too but sadly that's only a small part of china
58. RobotMan posted on 16 Apr 2012, 10:19 0 0
He agree with you is because Apple is losing market share in China but he still think Apple is winning when it making a lot money and that is a win for him. Even though Apple over charge for it product.
2. Yummy posted on 15 Apr 2012, 01:05 4 1
Well, people need to realize that different OS' differ in popularity. So I don't think it is really "oh iOS is better then android" or the other way around. I think it is really based on opinion and this shows that many things differ in different environments.
49. steelicon posted on 15 Apr 2012, 17:43 1 1
http://tinyurl.com/bq8bb5x
WHAT IS THE ELOP EFFECT
The Elop Effect is similar to the Osborne Effect and the Ratner Effect. Both of them were COMMUNICATION errors. Not errors of management decisions. Errors of communication. Osborne Effect bankrupted the Osborne Computer Company in Britain, and the Ratner Effect almost did the same for Ratners Jewelry Store also in the UK, but they survived only by firing their CEO and changing the name of the company. Imagine how severe your troubles have to be, if you are a retailer and have to change your company name and branding. If Walmart was so poisonous as a brand, or Tesco or Ikea, that they can only survive by changing totally their corporate identity and trying to convince consumers that they are now somebody else. Ouch indeed. Stephen Elop caused the modern version of the Osborne Effect, when he announced that Nokia would switch from Symbian to WP, while at that time, he had no Microsoft WP based Nokia smartphones to sell, or even to show.
That is exactly what Osborne did with his computers. Osborne saw its sales collapse overnight. So did Nokia too. We have now seen Nokia lose more than half of its market in a matter of months - a world record destruction of a global customer base. Elop actually even made matters worse than what Osborne had done. Elop not only announced his current smartphones are instantly obsolete on that fateful February 11 day, he then told the world, that Nokia under his leadership would boldly release dozens more new smartphones on that suddenly-undesirable Symbian OS for more than a year to come. He in fact committed to 150 million more Symbian phones - which would take us to about the end of 2012 before Nokia would stop peddling new Symbian phones at us. And this, when in February he announced to the world that Nokia's own Symbian was to be terminated. What a fool! So Elop looked at the most damaging management communication about new products ever, and decided he can do better. He actually out-Osborned Osborne.
Yes. That alone would qualify us for creating a new word in his honor to commemorate this disgrace. But he was not done. Elop wanted to guarantee he will end up in the Guiness Book of Records for the most incompetent management ever, he compounded his error by replicating the Ratner Effect, except that too, he did with his Microsoftian style.
So just before his big Microsoft announcement, Elop decided to issue an internal memo to all staff, about his thoughts. This is the infamous Burning Platforms memo, the costliest management memo ever written. A memo so toxic it not only wiped out Billions in sales and profits at the smartphone unit - it even caused severe loss at the supposedly unrelated featurephones unit of Nokia (ie dumbphones). The Burning Platforms memo was so devastating it gives new meaning to the term 'poison pen'.
3. pongkie posted on 15 Apr 2012, 01:11 2 1
interesting for most of the google services is not available there. google hk is available for search at least
4. christianqwerty posted on 15 Apr 2012, 01:53 10 1
My friend who is from Beijing says that iPhones and iPods are a lot more expensive in China than in America. I bet the price is the main reason it is selling not as many in china.
5. wendygarett posted on 15 Apr 2012, 01:54 4 23
ios is the best!!! the rest are completely s**t!!
12. bbblader posted on 15 Apr 2012, 03:13 10 4
really then tell me how a samsung,htc,lg or nokia phone can drop from 1 metre and shatter the screen?
20. eaxvac posted on 15 Apr 2012, 05:10 3 10
really then tell me how samsung copied apple's UI on the galaxy s**t
22. Non_Sequitur posted on 15 Apr 2012, 06:18 5 2
They didn't.
26. bbblader posted on 15 Apr 2012, 06:44 7 3
samsung releases face unlock on galaxy nexus
: meh
iphone 5 with face unlock: ITS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE DO YOU HEAR ME?
25. rf1975 posted on 15 Apr 2012, 06:44 2 3
You mean to say that OSes on HTC, Samsung, LG & Nokia protect the phone from shattering. LOL.
55. bbblader posted on 16 Apr 2012, 04:06 0 0
lol actually when he said iOS
I imagined all the iOS devices like the iPod iPad and iPhone
and btw don't joke like that the iPhone and iPad use iOS as a shield
6. Mozarrt posted on 15 Apr 2012, 02:04 9 14
Windows Phone is very new to China, I think they can eat a large piece of the cake. Why buy some crappy Android when you can buy a Nokia 610.
29. Hafiz posted on 15 Apr 2012, 07:21 4 10
why is everyone disliking this comment ?? He is absolutely right!!
Nokia 610 will be better than any other android phone at its price.
7. ardent1 posted on 15 Apr 2012, 02:28 5 2
Android products are a commodity in the mainland. This is to be expected. Android will have a commanding lead for the forseeable future given how cheap android handsets are selling.
8. darktranquillity posted on 15 Apr 2012, 02:41 3 1
Same applies to india, android is simply murdering all other platforms. But unlike china, popular brands make the gain from the massive growth of android. I dono why people here are not so excited about iphone, whether its the price or....
9. Tsepz_GP posted on 15 Apr 2012, 02:47 6 5
Makes sense. I doubt WP would catch up, why buy a crappy Lumia 800 or worse, a rubbish Lumia 610 when you can get a low end Android thats far more functional, has more apps, games and memory, no point in counting WP in, its going to be a iOS vs. Android race.
Will be interesting to see the iPhone5 go up against the GALAXY S III later this year in China. :)
30. Tsepz_GP posted on 15 Apr 2012, 07:26 7 3
No, it wont.
Phones like Xperia Mini and Wildfire S run very smooth and fast.
31. TROLL posted on 15 Apr 2012, 07:52 4 2
We are all awaiting for ICS, then
every-thing will be owrite.....
57. bbblader posted on 16 Apr 2012, 04:07 0 0
explain owrite
50. remixfa posted on 15 Apr 2012, 17:45 2 1
the wildfire S is a cheap piece of buggy trash that lags and crashes like no bodys business. and it barely has enough room on it to download 3 good sized apps. its not even on the same level as the old mytouch3g and G1.
If im going for the ultra low end, ill take a WP7 phone. I love android, but the low end sucks.
37. TROLL posted on 15 Apr 2012, 08:07 1 2
And even if it does on the low series. Unlike
enjoy life in boundaries on ur ios.... we will all take
freedom rejoice and seranade while you enjoy solitary.
13. bbblader posted on 15 Apr 2012, 03:15 9 5
bitch please how can you compare iPhone 5 with the almighty SGSIII?
i5 would lose even to last year phones like SGSII
18. eaxvac posted on 15 Apr 2012, 05:06 2 3
lmao what a fandroid or is`heep, you are better off dead sir.
23. Tsepz_GP posted on 15 Apr 2012, 06:27 1 3
LOL! Look, if you dont agree with what i say then fine, but there's no need for such a rude and poor comment...the internet is great for people like you I guess, as you know you wouldn't be able to say ruch in someones face.
19. eaxvac posted on 15 Apr 2012, 05:08 3 11
The only reason android is there due to the dirty cheap factor, user satisfication will always be low with those 600~800mhz processor, 4gb memory etc and people will tend to switch whenever possible.
Even with the 6% marketshare Apple has, it is already making up almost 10 billion of Apple's profit. There's much room for Apple's growth in the coming years.
Those guys defending the 68% spydroid marketshare is a fool here.
24. GellerDoesDallas posted on 15 Apr 2012, 06:39 7 3
You're an imbecile, your statement is just so stupid, it's pathetic you sound like a crybaby lookin for an excuse, I mean who are you trying to convince? Yourself!!! Because that's the only person that's in denial, just accept. Haha(D•:)>
33. GellerDoesDallas posted on 15 Apr 2012, 07:56 1 1
Fandroid? I think not, I like all mobile operating systems. I don't like the whey Apple handles business, but that doesn't mean I hate the iPhone, I have a 2g,3gs, and 4s and Titan and Galaxy Nexus. U mad?
36. TROLL posted on 15 Apr 2012, 08:04 1 3
Apple with just 1 phone. No choices how cheap....
you buy a bmw theres 3 series 5 seried 6 series 7 series. Merc e class. C class. M class. S class. B class. Amg. Brabus. A class. And apple with 1 phone
To choice. Wow what inovation revolution evolution
More like out of idears. What nonsense crap!
35. TROLL posted on 15 Apr 2012, 07:57 6 4
Overpriced phone.
Every-one want's an iPhone cause it's fashion.
I will look COOL.
They will say i'm rich.
I will be typical like other's.
That's why people bye iphone!
40. eaxvac posted on 15 Apr 2012, 10:44 1 3
Despite so, are you jealous of those who have iPhones since you assume they all flaunt how rich they are?
So you are poor eh?
46. TROLL posted on 15 Apr 2012, 15:03 3 1
Nope. I do own a ip4s 64GB and a 8800 carbon arte!
No how stupid they are.... if u wana show off u posr
And posses with NOKIA 8800 series. not iphones!!!!
51. remixfa posted on 15 Apr 2012, 17:48 2 2
maybe you should go break down some chineese numbers. since most people cant afford the i4s, they go for the older models, like the 3GS which is still commonly sold brand new there. That 660mhz processor sure is speedy.
28. Tsepz_GP posted on 15 Apr 2012, 07:13 7 5
Shame, seems the Android haters have a major problem with its dominance. Live with it. :)
44. Habib posted on 15 Apr 2012, 13:06 1 5
lol i think the article clearly says everything :)
what dominance are u talkin bout?
