Android mascot, LloydAccording to a recent report by Strategy Analytics, shipments of smartphones running the Android OS reached 1 billion for the first time in 2014, when “global smartphone shipments grew 30 percent annually to reach a record 1.3 billion units.”The report continues: “Android has become the first ever smartphone operating system to ship more than 1 billion units in a single year. Android accounted for a huge 81 percent share of all smartphones shipped globally in 2014, and Apple iOS remains its only serious threat for now.”

This rather puts a dent in recent laudatory reports of Apple’s sales numbers, claiming that Google has finally lost the smartphone wars. Yes, as Strategy Analytics points out, “Apple iOS shipped 192.7 million smartphones worldwide in 2014, capturing 15 percent share. The new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models have recently re-energized Apple’s growth and their bigger-screen designs have swiftly gained traction among wealthy consumers.” However, for various reasons, I rather doubt that it’s Game Over for Android.

For one thing, that rebound in Apple sales seems to have been driven by form factor – a.k.a. bigger screens. Now, why did iPhone users have to wait for so long for bigger screens? Android users have been playing with a plethora of screen sizes for years, not to mention TV dongles, set-top boxes, and even watches running their chosen OS. Once again we have Apple playing catch-up and being portrayed as the victor. If so, it looks like the tortoise to Android’s hare to me.

And the diversity of the Android designs points to the other factor in Google’s favor: Third party manufacturers who are either based in or targeting the dynamic growth markets of Asia. Apple may wow the aspirational premium segment, but the prize lies in the billions worldwide still not yet online, who are going to be accessing the internet via their smartphones. Android is already rolling out specific formats for those markets. Can Apple take time out from wooing the plutocrats, yuppies and One-Percenters to capture that market? We’ll see.

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Paul St John Mackintosh is a British poet, writer of dark fiction, and media pro with a love of e-reading. His gadgets range from a $50 Kindle Fire to his trusty Vodafone Smart Grand 6. Paul was educated at public school and Trinity College, Cambridge, but modern technology saved him from the Hugh Grant trap. His acclaimed first poetry collection, The Golden Age, was published in 1997, and reissued on Kindle in 2013, and his second poetry collection, The Musical Box of Wonders, was published in 2011.

2 COMMENTS

  1. I have to agree with most of your post.

    However, I can see why Apple waited so long before releasing their larger phones. Once you get into Phablets, people realise that they no longer need two devices. A large screen phone will do the work of an ipad for most people. I think Apple realised this and knew that ipad sales would be affected. If Apple does bring out an Ipad pro with an even larger screen, then it will bit into the sales of its laptop range.

    Apple has always been marketed as a high end product and will always have its niche there. People with excess cash will be willing to show off their latest fruit.

    I have had a large screen Android phone for a while now and my tablet has been given away to my daughter. I no longer need it. The phone is superb.

    Android covers all bases and in developing countries, the cheapest and mid-range phones will cater to the vast majority of the populations.

    Whilst many android apps are free, developers can get a return on investment through the sheer numbers of users clicking on ads or upgrading to ad free versions.

  2. “If so, it looks like the tortoise to Android’s hare to me”

    Apparently, you don’t know the story you are referencing? It’s rather brief, if you started, you should have got to the ending…

    ““Apple iOS shipped 192.7 million smartphones worldwide in 2014, capturing 15 percent share. The new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models have recently re-energized Apple’s growth and their bigger-screen designs have swiftly gained traction among wealthy consumers.” However, for various reasons, I rather doubt that it’s Game Over for Android.”

    I rather doubt you as a credible source for any data on smartphone market share and related commentary as this is the closest to admitting and apologizing for the error you made in stating THREE TIMES that Apple would only sell 64 million iPhones in 2014, not 73 million in the 4th quarter alone.

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