| nuckles87 said:
Apple's only problem currently is that they only make their iOS for their own phones, whereas Google is taking the Windows approach and focusing on getting their OS on as many platforms as possible. Frankly, I've seen this movie before. Eventually, the Android OS IS going to be the dominant force in both the cell phone and tablet markets. |
While this is definitely true to an extent, people are ignoring key differences between smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Windows kicked the shit out of Apple because they were (like Apple) on the emerging side of the PC market. Where smartphones (and, to a lesser extent, tablets) differ is that PCs were driven by a very strong push in the business community. People bought Windows machines because they were introduced to the operating system in their place of business. Windows' open nature made it the only viable option for business use and businesses were the first to start using desktop computers on a large scale. So, naturally, this filtered into the home over the course of the following years.
Smartphones started as a business product but quickly shifted to the consumer space, MUCH more quickly than the PC market. Apple led the way in this regard and before Blackberry entrenched itself into users' minds, the iPhone had surpassed it on a consumer scale that dwarfed the business side of things. Now, smarphones (and again, to a lesser extent tablets) are mainly a consumer product without a significant push from the business side of the equation driving the market toward a single platform. So if Apple stays competitive in the consumer space, they'll be just fine over the long run. Will Android take most of the market? Absolutely. But we won't see the crazy 95/5 split we saw in the PC space in the 90s and early 2000s. Probably more like a 40/25/10/10/the rest type of situation as Android gains some market, Apple loses some, and the rest catch up.
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