re: Ugly Data For Apple Shows How Desperately It Needs iPhone 6 To Be A Hit

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Most android phones are cheap. There are a ton of people in developing countries buying cell phones. Since they can't afford $1000+ iPhones in those countries, they buy the cheap, shitty android phones. Most are literally a step above feature phones, and are not comparable to a Galaxy S4 or whatever is the Android flavor of the week.

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Quantities don't shrink or grow "in relation" to anything but themselves, reading comprehension has nothing to do with it. Percentages can change as well, but again have to be taken within context. Is the overall population growing, shrinking? What all is being included in the numbers? Does Kia selling more cars say anything, at all, about Mercedes?

as far as "market share losses" are concerned, you again have to consider growth of the overall market. If a hypothetical market is adding 10,000 units per quarter, and company A is capturing new customers at a faster rate, company's B isn't exactly "losing" market share. For all we know, these are clients company B isn't even interested in.

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As Competitors Slum It, Apple Prepares Android-Crushing iPhone 6
By: Rocco Pendola Follow| 08/19/14 - 08:00 AM EDT
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Despite what feels like ubiquity in the United States and relationships with less than third-party retailers, Apple remains an aspirational brand. The forthcoming release of a larger-screen iPhone 6 will help further illustrate not merely what this means, but how it functions, on the ground, with many consumers.

When IDC releases the marketshare numbers, the media rarely, if ever, provides analysis and opinion on what they actually mean. Instead they spew surface scratches and intuitive statements that don't hold up to the slightest sniff.

Apple has no problem seeing Google dominate global marketshare numbers via Android. All Apple cares about is making its margin on hardware sales and producing the highest quality, highest-end smartphones available anywhere. That's why -- even with the 5c -- there is no "low-end" iPhone. That would defeat the purpose of Apple's superior strategy from the practical standpoint of its bottom line and its relationship with the consumer.

Two types of customers will matter to Apple when it releases iPhone 6 later this year. The massive numbers of folks due for upgrades from iPhones 4, 4s and 5:

At Verizon (VZ) , 56% of iPhone customers still own the 4 or 4s. Twenty-four percent still pack iPhone 5. I'm part of the latter group, and will be eligible for and fully intend to upgrade to iPhone 6 come late summer/early fall.
At AT&T (T) , 42% are on iPhone 4 or 4s; 25% on iPhone 5.
At Sprint (S) , 47% use iPhone 4 or 4s; 24% carry iPhone 5.
That, in and of itself, represents a landslide. But the second group of consumers really highlights the brilliance of Apple's strategy.

This second group consists of the folks who could afford an iPhone but opted not to get one because they could not get past the relatively small screen size and those who told themselves it made financial sense to go with something less expensive than an iPhone. The larger screen -- and whatever else Apple introduces with iPhone 6 -- might be enough to push these people over the edge. To entice them to stretch the budget or spend a little bit more than they probably should. To choose iPhone 6 on or off contract even though they opted not to on a previous release, quite possibly for fiscal reasons.

Apple could have gone to these consumers over the years with a mix of less expensive, low-end options and a variety of screen sizes. Instead, Steve Jobs and Tim Cook opted not to slum it like Android's hardware partners. Apple stayed true to itself by not going after the plentiful low-hanging fruit. It chose to start at the top of the tree, dangling fruit to the people who, over time, make the choice to make what amounts to the switch from something else to iOS.

Read More: Apple Has a Problem and There's Only One Way to Fix It

Apple's strategy is such that it doesn't require every single piece of low-hanging fruit to bite. It doesn't even need a majority. It just needs a few here and there, especially this time around. Converting just a relative few in addition to present Apple customers will be significant. Because, coupled with the flood of iPhone 6 upgrades, Apple is setting up for what could be its strongest holiday quarter ever.

Follow @mynameisrocco

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@mynameisrocco

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OMFG LULZ you quoted someone with the twitter handle @mynameisrocco. This completely undermines your entire argument. I knew you were dumb, but not this dumb! Oh and that guy has an iPhone. Everyone knows only idiots have iPhones! God I'm so superior to everyone that's not exactly like me. DAE hate Amazon Prime?

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You clearly don't understand what "desperation" is for a corporation.

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What are the implications? Higher stock price? YoY sales growth? This is what happened every other year that Apples market share has shrunk.

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You can't possibly think it's going to go to zero right?

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If Apple isn't interested in the customers who are buying high-end Android phones (and even low-end ones, why the frick wouldn't they want to sell as many phones as possible?), then they are doing a severe disservice to their shareholders. Apple is very interested, and to suggest otherwise is pure ignorance.

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(and even low-end ones, why the frick wouldn't they want to sell as many phones as possible?),

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The implication is that the smaller the iOS market gets in comparison to Android, the less attractive it looks as a platform. It wasn't very long ago that iOS always got an app first, and the apps were higher quality. The trend has been moving in Android's favor, and both platforms get apps around the same time now, and the quality is about equal. iOS losing market share isn't doing anything to reverse that trend.

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Of course not. Damn I feel like this is the poli board, where everyone argues against what they want you to say rather than what you actually say.

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How come no one is posting articles like "Google is desperate to increase ad revenue" or "Microsoft desperately needs better cloud services" or "Samsung is desperately in need of more high end phone sales" or "HTC desperately needs to convert positive reviews into actual sales"

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because it's not worth it to them. It's a fools game. No one is criticizing Mercedes or BMW or Louis Vuitton or Tiffany's for not trying to cater to the lowest common denominator. Burberry tried to back in the 90s and it nearly bankrupt the company. It destroyed their image and quality and lets face it, Apple is about image and quality as much as they are about everything else. Why would they start making $100 off contract low quality smartphones where they only make $5 a phone when that would destroy them at their high end where they make $300 a phone?

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It's amazing to me that people still think that Apple is on the verge of collapse

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that people still question their tactics and practices

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