Android vs. iPhone — Who Wins In 2011? 424
Hugh Pickens writes "Philip Elmer-DeWitt writes in Fortune Magazine that Apple and Google have two very different strategies in the competition shaping up in 2011 between Android and iPhone. According to the conventional wisdom as espoused by Don Dodge, a Developer Advocate at Google, both Apple and Google will win because they are playing different games. Android will win the market share battle, but Apple will generate bigger profits. 'Apple goes for the high end of the market where they can charge high prices and enjoy great profit margins. Apple has been successful with this strategy multiple times, and will do it again with iPhone,' writes Dodge adding that Google's strategy with Android is to generate revenue streams from mobile search and advertising. Another Google employee, Tim Bray, sees things differently and says he won't be surprised if Apple ships a cheap iPhone and if this time next year, dirt-cheap iPhones were competing against Androids that push the user-experience lever farther than Apple. 'There's nothing fundamental in Android that would get in the way of a industrial-design and user-experience rock-star team, whether at Google or one of the handset makers, testing the hypothesis that these things are central to Apple's success.'"
Re:Everyone wins. (Score:5, Informative)
I'm not sure how much I agree with this, although its fair to say this has become conventional wisdom.
I've seen non-techies use Android-based phones with ease and not play around with any sort of tinkering. The UI is generally easy to tolerate, not much different than iOS, and the market is dead simple to use. There are millions up millions of Android users. These people aren't exactly Kernel hackers.
I've also seen techies with jailbroken iphones modify every little thing.
The conventional wisdom here is failing. These devices, for the end user, are almost identical. There's a low learning curve with both, but once people figure out how to use the market, use a virtual keyboard, etc they're golden. Heck, I might even argue that the Android devices are easier to use as they are boot up and play, while the iOS phones require an iTunes install, credit card information, connecting a USB cable to the computer, and the constant putting in of your complex password when buying free applications via the App store. Some end users find this challenging.
I recently setup an iphone for my gf and was pretty annoyed at all the hoops I had to jump through just to get started. My own Vibrant took a handful of seconds to create a gmail account and put in the username/password once. Not to mention my phone gets OTA updates and iphone still needs itunes and the USB cable to do this. A large part of the "it just works" myth is Apple marketing. Spend some time at the genius bar or get a job supporting Macs to find that "it just works" is more than a bit exaggerated and has more to do with the lack of malware writers targeting Apple.
Re:Everyone wins. (Score:5, Informative)
However I don't think the main differentiator is "just works" vs. "customizable". In my experience, they both "just work" for the vast majority of things. Buy a new iPhone or a new Droid and you'll be answering emails and browsing the web within minutes. And both are extensible via apps: the app market for iPhone is somewhat bigger, but on Android you have the option to install non-approved apps. These balance out to some extent. Overall, both platforms are fantastic in terms of extending your phone's capabilities, because the "top" apps (the best thousand apps, say) are available on both platforms.
To me, the big difference is which ecosystem you're buying in to. If you use Google services (gmail, Google Calendar, Google Voice, etc.) then Android is simply amazing. Within a minute of getting your new phone, all your contact details, appointments, and so on are all working perfectly. (One of the times where "the cloud" actually works/makes sense.) If you buy heavily into iTunes and the rest of the Apple universe, then an iPhone will seamlessly integrate into your workflow.
Of course you don't have to buy into their technology the way they want you to (you can use gmail from an iPhone just fine), but the experience is more streamlined if you do. If you don't buy into either ecosystem, then both types of smartphone seem pretty evenly matched, at least in my experience.
I do agree, by the way, that Android is more customizable and hackable. For some people that's an important differentiator. But I think for the public-at-large the bigger differentiator has to do with what ecosystem they've already bought into (or want to start using)...
Re:Everyone wins. (Score:4, Informative)
One thing I've really liked about iPhone is its ability to "clone" itself. I've replaced two iPhones now with newer models: we replaced my original iPhone with a 3GS, and my wife's 3G with a 4. In both cases I've plugged in the old phone for one last sync, then plugged in the new phone and had it take the "identity" of the old phone. The result in both cases has been a completely identical phone just with more power and capabilities. Literally everything transfers: apps, settings, obviously stuff like contacts and calendar entries... It's a complete clone. Saves a ton of time setting up a new device. For security reasons saved passwords are the only thing that don't transfer (which I consider more a feature than a problem). I set up my wife's new 4 last weekend (it was her Christmas present), and five minutes after I started it looked and acted just like her 3G.
So yeah, the ecosystem point is definitely valid, and while there are some disadvantages to having to plug your iPhone in for syncing/activation there are also some nice advantages.
Re:Google's strategy with Android is to generate (Score:4, Informative)
The best selling single android phone to date is the original Motorola droid (a high end smartphone). So, I don't think that you can say that the primary target demographic for android phones is "cheap".
Re:Everyone wins. (Score:5, Informative)
My android phone does a similar same thing, but wirelessly (and automatically). When you sign in to your google account with your new phone, your contacts are synced and all of your applications are re-downloaded from the android market.
Re:Advertising (Score:4, Informative)
http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/06/news/companies/cable_bill_cost_increase/index.htm [cnn.com]
Doesn't seem like he's getting ripped off