Android

The secret of Apple's success in selling premium tech as an affordable luxury

Apple's hardware designs, software, icons, marketing, retail strategy, and branding have all been closely copied by its rivals. One thing they aren't copying is Apple's vast, premium installed base of loyal buyers. That's the primary foundation of Apple's wildly successful, global business that's uniquely selling massive volumes of luxury-class, premium-priced products in markets where competitors fight over sales of low-priced commodity units with thin margins. Why can't anyone else achieve what Apple has?

Daniel Eran Dilger | 5 years ago

Why Apple is now focusing on users, not units in Fiscal 2019

Across the last 20 years, Apple has shifted from selling Macs in a world dominated by Windows PCs to being a dominant global brand that services a vast installed base that's more valuable, influential, and lucrative than Windows was at its peak. Apple wants its investors to understand that, and is now challenging the media narrative that suggests it running an unsustainable race against various manufacturers churning out ever-increasing volumes of hardware units.

Daniel Eran Dilger | 5 years ago

Apple Music poised to get native Android tablet interface

A native tablet interface and other significant UI changes for Apple Music on Android are now in beta, as Apple works to keep the client up to par with the iOS version.

Roger Fingas | 5 years ago

Facebook denies report claiming Zuckerberg ordered execs to go Android-only

Facebook on Thursday issued a denial of several claims in a recent New York Times report, which for instance said that CEO Mark Zuckerberg was so incensed by jabs from Apple CEO Tim Cook that he ordered executives to use Android devices instead of iPhones.

Roger Fingas | 5 years ago

How to transfer data from an Android phone to an iPhone using Apple's 'Move to iOS' app

Android smartphone owners who have just acquired an iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or iPhone XS Max may be daunted by the prospect of moving their digital life over to their new device. Apple offers assistance in the form of the "Move to iOS" Android app, which can help port the essential data across.

Malcolm Owen | 5 years ago

Google charging Android device makers up to $40 per phone to install apps

Google's recent EU ruling-driven rule changes for licensing access to the Google Play Store and the company's other apps to Android devices could cost some vendors as much as $40 per unit, according to internal documents, but the high fee could be significantly reduced down or eliminated entirely if Google's clients preinstall specific apps onto European smartphones.

Malcolm Owen | 5 years ago

Analysts change tune, now say $1,000 Huawei Mate 20 Androids are a bargain

Analysts and commentators who spent the first half of 2018 insisting that Apple's $999 iPhone X was suffering from "disappointing" sales because of its premium price, a supposed "lack of innovation," and controversial design choices that included a camera "notch" are now telling us that Chinese companies that struggled to profit from high volumes of cheap phones will now successfully sell expensive models with an imitative notch.

Daniel Eran Dilger | 5 years ago

Google complying with EC ruling by charging Android vendors for Play Store, Google apps

Google will start to charge Android smartphone and tablet producers a licensing fee to include the Google Play Store and other essential apps on devices sold in Europe, as a way to comply with the European Commission's antitrust decision.

Malcolm Owen | 5 years ago

Google is downplaying Android to focus its future on Chrome OS

Five years ago, I described how Google was distancing itself from Android and increasingly pursuing a new strategy around Chrome OS. While that was a controversial idea at the time, Google's latest announcements show that's exactly what the company had been doing.

Daniel Eran Dilger | 5 years ago

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Apple narrows iOS loyalty rate gap with Android in Q3, retention rates at all-time high

Apple's iOS is catching up to Google's Android in terms of customer loyalty, continuing a three-year trend that has seen both operating systems enjoy extremely high retention rates, according to a research report published Thursday.

Mikey Campbell | 5 years ago

About a fifth of Android phone owners plan to switch to an iPhone

Most smartphone buyers tend to stick with the platform they're familiar with. However, new data from Merrill Lynch indicates that a large percentage of top Android brand users now intend to switch to an iPhone in their next purchase.

Daniel Eran Dilger | 5 years ago

Google unveils Pixel 3 phone, Pixel Slate tablet & Google Home Hub

Firing its latest salvos at Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft, Google on Tuesday announced several new devices, led by its Pixel 3 and 3 XL Android smartphones.

Roger Fingas | 5 years ago

After 8 years, IDC admits Apple's iPad is leading the tablet market 'unabated'

Since iPad launched in 2010, International Data Corporation has dutifully crafted various media narratives that belittled as it as a toy, dismissed it as merely a "media consumption" device in a world that needed Windows, and disparaged it as inconsequential in a vast sea of cheap Android tablets (some of which were literally children's toys). But they were wrong, here's why.

Daniel Eran Dilger | 5 years ago

Why Samsung's smartphones are winning in shipments but losing in business

This summer, Samsung Electronics reported a 22 percent drop in mobile revenues and a 34 percent collapse in year-on-year profits in its IM division, which includes smartphones, tablets, PCs, watches, and other products comparable to Apple's business. Over the same three months, Apple reported a greater than 17 percent increase in both its revenues and profits. Why is the world's largest phone maker by unit volume performing so poorly?

Daniel Eran Dilger | 5 years ago