Apple Says Many Users 'Bought an Android Phone By Mistake' 711
mrspoonsi (2955715) writes "Apple CEO Tim Cook during his keynote said that around 130 million customers have purchased their first Apple device in the last twelve months. He states, 'Many of these customers were switchers from Android,' he said. 'They had bought an Android phone by mistake, and then had sought a better experience and a better life.' He added that almost half of those who have purchased an iPhone in China since December have switched from Android. However, it is worth noting that iPhones were not actually available in China until December, when pre-orders began, so it is unclear how much of the device's popularity there is simply down to the novelty factor, rather than a burning desire to flee from Android."
Re:Other way around (Score:5, Interesting)
I once bought an iPad. I did a lot of research on it - it had had the best graphics processor and best processor at the time. Solid construction, very nice hardware. I may have even been willing to live with the OS restrictions. The geographical limitations of me buying an app from the iStore killed it for me. I even went as far as to contact the app author, who said his hands were tied. Willing buyer, willing seller, some fcuked up bastards in the middle. I will never go back.
Gave it to my dad. Works well for him though.
Re:White Moto X (Score:5, Interesting)
I suspect - and Apple would probably hate this - that to many people "iPhone" and "smartphone" mean exactly the same thing, in much the same way that all tissues are Kleenex. If you don't give enough of a damn about the differences between square touchscreens called Nexus and iPhone and Galaxy and Lumia to make a purchasing decision between them, you probably don't give enough of a damn to keep their names striaght.
Re:Other way around (Score:5, Interesting)
This is something I noticed with a lot of Windows Phone users. They bought into the platform thinking it was new and neat, and the WP supporter crowd (yes, it exists) were cheering themselves on last year claiming that they were the fastest growing platform. But from what I saw, after owning it for one generation most of these guys switched back to Android. And as it turns out, Windows Phone is no longer the "fastest growing" and is in fact stagnating.
http://betanews.com/2014/02/24... [betanews.com]
This may very well be the case of iPhone in China, given that it only recently started officially selling there.
Re:"By Mistake" (Score:3, Interesting)
So basically, is Apple's CEO saying that Apple users are idiots?
Actually, yes, I think that's a fair conclusion - not that all Apple users are idiots (I'm one), but that is what he's basically intimating by making that ludicrous remark. How could anyone confuse phones? Even if you're totally illiterate, or English isn't your language, the iPhone has a distinctive look that hasn't changed in years, plus a big honkin' Apple logo on the back.
In reality, I think he's full of shit, and just trying to make excuses for Androids popularity and Apple's loss of market share. Mind you, I have nothing against iPhones, in fact I use one, and I like it. Very stable, very fast, the apps do what I need them to do, I don't need to hack this and that and customize my icons, blah blah. (besides, jailbreaking allows all that). But I have a Nexus 7 too. It's all good.
Apple needs to accept the fact that Android is steep competition for them, and stop making silly, insulting excuses.
Re:It true !!!! (Score:5, Interesting)
I bought my little Android phone intentionally. At $150 with a Net10 sub ($45/mo for unlimited everything, and it uses Verizon's towers), the little Huawei Ascend is cheap, it does what I want it to do, and runs quite nicely. Why am I so cheap about my phone? Because if it gets lost, broke or stolen, so what? I'll just get another one.
By contrast, a $600 iPhone or Galaxy or whatever with the typical carrier's shitty plan/contract/caps/bullshit/etc isn't exactly my idea of Nirvana. I got better things to do with the extra dosh.
Mind you, I'm not a fanboy of any camp; I have an Android phone, a box at home running Linux Mint, and a MacBook Pro (I prefer UNIX/Linux for my lap/desktop - sue me.) Pint is, Android has its limitations (esp. when integrating with the MBP), but it also has its advantages (like actual file management instead of $#@^! iTunes).
To each their own... I've begun to reach an age where watching fanboys go nuts trying to defend their idol is entertainment, not a call to arms (well, except when it comes to Microsoft... fuck Microsoft.)
not quite accurate about China (Score:2, Interesting)
The iPhone has been available in China for a couple of years. It only became available on China's largest carrier in December.
Re:It true !!!! (Score:4, Interesting)
To be fair, it is a bit backwards From The Way It Has Always Been Done. You don't attach a file to an email (since iOS doesn't like the idea of free floating 'files' running around and contaminating things), you use the app that created the data to take the data from that app and move it somewhere else (in this case via email).
You don't think of it as moving or emailing a file. That is doubleplusungood.
3 switched... no mistake (Score:4, Interesting)
In the last few months, all three of my children have ditched their small screen, walled garden iPhones for Android phones. They did not do this by mistake. They did it intentionally. They are happy with Android.
Tim Cook is delusional (or, more likely, blowing smoke)
Re:It true !!!! (Score:4, Interesting)
Your anecdote doesn't really mean much. Apple has much better retention than other companies, and when you look at buying intention or people who have switched, the numbers do come out on Apple's side. It's nice that you and your wife have found things that work for you. When I borrowed a Nexus 4 for a week, I had to struggle to make it a week before I went back to my iPhone 4. I just couldn't find anything particularly redeeming about Android phones that I didn't get from my iPhone (other than the speed of a new phone, obviously, but any new phone would give me that; and the price).
You're assuming he means that they purchased the phones 'by accident' rather than what he probably intended, which is that they later had buyer's remorse and felt they'd made a mistake. He's deliberately blurring the meaning here, but he's almost certainly not claiming that people went home with phones and didn't realise until later that they weren't made by Apple.
Android vs iPhone is not the new Mac vs Windows (Score:5, Interesting)
It was a joke but perhaps true for some people ... (Score:5, Interesting)
Perhaps this is occurring with phones too and Cook's jobs is perhaps true for some people. They accidentally bought Android due to counterfeiting.
Re:Other way around (Score:4, Interesting)
this was the game Avernum in South Africa
I've just checked it out. That game is available in South Africa. If it wasn't when you tried it's because the author neglected to check the checkbox for South Africa.