How Popular is the iPhone?

Marc Flores

Marc has been a mobile fanatic for the better part of a decade and has had more devices pass through his hands than he would care to count. Originally from Los Angeles and briefly in San Francisco, Marc now lives in Brooklyn where, unlike Will Park, he longs for simpler times and simpler technology. All the while, he writes about gadgets and wireless technology as he tinkers, hacks and ultimately breaks most of his gadgets in the process. Marc has written about the mobile industry for Boy Genius Report, MobileCrunch, Laptop Magazine and has had his work appear in the Wall Street Journal, Gizmodo, CrunchGear and more.

• a1by

  Shouldn’t the title of the post be how profitable is iphone?

• Roger Thornton Brown

  So, despite the Iphone losing out to every other manufacturer in TPMS of market penetration and usability the Iphone is still king because their profit margin is larger. In any other world that would be called ripping of the consumer. Only in iphone fanboy world is that cause for celebration. Bend over boys!

• http://www.intomobile.com Marc Flores

  Meanwhile, RIM is struggling to build an OS with any modern-day consumer relevance, Samsung and LG have virtually no real impressive presence in the high-end smartphone market, and Nokia — well, Nokia is currently suffering a mass exodus of executives.

• http://www.intomobile.com Marc Flores

  The infographic highlights numbers, but I decided to illustrate how this can skew one’s views about the mobile landscape because it’s not all about market share.

• ola

  It’s bullshit. We all know android has passed iOS a long time ago….the droid rules, ios is outdated and a sorry excuse for a phone.

• Connor Crosby

  Someone is having a temper tantrum. I use an iOS device and I think it is a fine operating system.

• Felipe

  You sound bitter. And no, the iPhone is not that much expensive than other phones. Only $200 dollars in At&t for the newest phone with a contract. Unless you are broke that is nothing. Don’t be mad at us because we have more expending power.

• Dave

  I like how 68% looks like more than 75% in the picture
  (worldwide: 68% use a mobile phone)

• Kko

  @ ola, apparently you can’t even comprehend a simple infographic which spells it all out for you – ie iOS still rules, and by a big margin. Oh, and take a peek at the buyer loyalty of Android and iPhone – iPhone owners clearly love their phones more than Android owners love theirs.

  Not that I care much – just get tired of the misinformation peddled by Fandroids and the increasingly flaky/crooked Google itself.

• Mace

  Mass exodus of executives in Nokia?? So, they changed the CEO and one internal candidate decided to leave the company after 6 months. Very, very normal business in any company. Why do you always try to make things look bad for Nokia?

• seth

  “So, despite the Iphone losing out to every other manufacturer in TPMS of market penetration and usability”

  If you look at market share on a manufacturer basis, Apple is one of the few top smartphone manufacturers to be growing marketshare. On an OS basis, Android is gaining on iOS (it may have overtaken it in the US, but Apple still has a substantial lead globally), but that is because the smartphone market as a whole is growing. Android is taking a small chunk of iOS sales, but the real losers are Nokia, RIM and Microsoft. Android will be the largest smartphone OS, but iOS will be a strong 2nd in the market with healthy growth and a better app eco-system.

  I’ve never seen any serious commentator talk about the iPhone losing out in terms of usability.

  “the Iphone is still king because their profit margin is larger. In any other world that would be called ripping of the consumer.”

  No, it’s called having a good product. People are prepared to pay more for iPhones because they are good products. Profitability is what will keep the iOS app eco-system healthy.

• seth

  If iOS is outdated that must make Android pre-historic cause they basically just copy everything Apple does

• seth

  “Nokia is still the smartphone king, I think a nokia is cheaper than a iphone, and which is very practical.”

  Nokia has dominated the featurephone market but they have never been that successful in the smartphone market which is why they are now losing market share to Android, RIM and iOS. They still dominate the overall mobile market, but that share is rapidly declining.

  Most Nokia’s are cheaper than iPhones because they are not true smartphones. Nokias that come close to iPhones in functionality are actually pretty close in terms of price.

• seth

  “Why do you always try to make things look bad for Nokia?”

  Because they are. The reason executives are getting the shove from Nokia is because they are getting eaten alive by Android and iOS.

• Damo

  I would slightly disagree with your interpretation. From my experience I would guess that a significant amount of those saying they will stick with an iPhone next are doing so because they have spent so much money buying apps that to jump ship would seem like a waste of all that money. I know I had that feeling when I finally dumped the iPhone for Android; it was only lessened for me becasue I bought an iPad. In contrast Blackberry and Android owners have likely not forked out so much in apps. That’s just my take on it of course!

• Ryan

  The numbers are very interesting indeed but still nothing to get too excited over.

  I don’t think market share has ever been something that Apple worries too much about. User experience has always been their main goal and they are very good at it. It is also a more fun way to make money than by market share. (as indicated by app sales).

  Just look at their market cap. I don’t think they are worried by any stretch of the imagination.

  I also think Android and iOS are destined to take majority share of the market (split a little to Androids favor). I don’t think either side is worried about the other too much though as they’ll each overlap a little but largely be serving different user types.

• http://www.intomobile.com Marc Flores

  Exactly, Seth.