Samsung Regains Top Smartphone Vendor Spot as Xiaomi Overtakes Apple (theverge.com) 49
Samsung is back on top as the world's biggest smartphone vendor one quarter after losing its spot to Huawei, according to reports from IDC, Counterpoint, and Canalys. The news comes just as Samsung posted its highest quarterly revenue figures ever, which the company said was helped by a boost in demand for smartphones. From a report: Huawei became the number one vendor for the first time three months ago, benefiting from strong sales in China while much of the rest of the world was operating under constrained retail conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Huawei's shipments fell 7 percent quarter-on-quarter and 24 percent year-on-year, according to Counterpoint, while Samsung's shipments increased by 47 percent over the last quarter. Xiaomi was able to regain the number three spot for the first time in several years, overtaking Apple for the first time with year-on-year growth of 46 percent. Apple's shipments fell 7 percent year-on-year in the July-September quarter, no doubt affected by the fact that its new iPhones this year slipped until October and November release dates.
Re:Lets hear it (Score:4, Interesting)
Apple makes more pro... oh, okay.
"The world's biggest smartphone vendor"? What is that supposed to be a metric of, anyway? Are they talking about the biggest factories? The biggest phones? The biggest marketshare? The biggest profi - oh wait.
The fact is, Apple is a minor player in some markets and the major player in others. For example they are the major player in the USA [statcounter.com] and currently on top in Canada [statcounter.com] right now (just barely, I had no idea it was so close to 50/50 in Canada), but they barely have above 25% in Europe [statcounter.com].
Does it really matter, though? In fact, Apple hardware has plenty of software available for it, it's not like the 1980's anymore. Apple probably has ten times as many users today as there was non-Apple computers users in the 1980's and the other platforms probably have a hundred times the number of users today.
At some point, all that should matter to you is the fact that the hardware does what you need it to do and the software you need is available for it. This whole "marketshare" thing is just another type of marketing tool. A lot of things have moved to the Web anyway, so as long as there is at least one browser being kept up-to-date for your platform, you are fine.
I don't care if there's twenty Android users for every iPhone user, all I know is that amongst all family members and friends, they're all iPhones except one friend who uses Android. The funny part is, he doesn't want to be "tracked by Apple" (his words) but he uses Android, GMail, YouTube, etc. /shrug
This whole debate about smartphones marketshare is as pointless as the "game consoles wars". Forums are filled with teenagers right now debating Xbox Series X* vs PS5 even though they're basically identical (same generation of AMD CPU + same generation of AMD GPU + PCIe 4.0 SSD). Does it matter which console is better than the other? If you want to play Metroid then both consoles are useless. If all your friends are on PS4 and are planning on buying a PS5, you're going to buy a PS5 in order to play with them. If you want to play Xbox exclusives, you're not going to buy a PS5. Remember that hardware is useless without software.
We should celebrate the fact that we have choices, and I only wish Windows Phone ended up a valid third option. Apple and Google need competition, unfortunately if a company as big as Microsoft failed, I kind of lost hope that a third valid option for smartphone will ever exist.
* terrible name and that includes all previous generations. Someone at Microsoft marketing loves obfuscation.
TL;DR use the platform you want and stop caring about what others use. It's pointless to argue about it.
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all I know is that amongst all family members and friends, they're all iPhones except one friend who uses Android.>
You must be living under a rock.
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I take it you didn't read his statement: "For example they are the major player in the USA [statcounter.com] and currently on top in Canada [statcounter.com] right now (just barely, I had no idea it was so close to 50/50 in Canada), but they barely have above 25% in Europe [statcounter.com]." Certainly in the US, Apple has a large market presence. In China and Europe, not as much.
Want to know how to stay above 25% in Europe and maybe even increase your sales? Stop ignoring European law as much as humanly possible. Europe has been pushing phone developers to move to USB-C since 2014. Apple rolled their eyes and said, "We'll do what we want." And when Europe passed a bill that sets the stage for a mandate, Apple continued to ignore it. When it becomes illegal for Apple to sell iPhones in Europe without USB-C, Apple is going to be screwed, because they don't have one ready, and no
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Europe has been pushing phone developers to move to USB-C since 2014
I find that statement to be highly suspect. As a specification USB-C was finalized in August 2014 with IEC adoption in 2016. How would Europe push developers to use a specification that early?
Apple rolled their eyes and said, "We'll do what we want."
The Lightning connector was released to the public in 2012 with the release of the iPhone 5. That is 2 years earlier than 2014 when you say Europe pushed developers to a barely released spec.
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Europe has been pushing phone developers to move to USB-C since 2014
I find that statement to be highly suspect. As a specification USB-C was finalized in August 2014 with IEC adoption in 2016. How would Europe push developers to use a specification that early?
Sorry, the source I was relying on was wrong. That was the EU's previous USB directive (not -C).
The point remains that Europe has pushed Apple to move to a common standard repeatedly over many, many years, and Apple has repeatedly provided adapters and other crude workarounds since 2009, rather than surrendering their previous cash cow (the proprietary, licensed connector), and that this behavior has hurt consumers and hurt Apple's market share in Europe.
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Common standard means something used by every manufacturer. But I'd settle for something used by more than one company, and that can be freely manufactured without paying royalties to that single company. As for Micro-B having two different versions, that's somewhat misleading. Micro-B 2.0 cables fit into a Micro-B 3.0 connector. The reverse isn't true. For charging purposes, Micro-B 3.0 is useless, so as a universal charging standard, Micro USB is broadly compatible with devices that use it.
The probl
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Common standard means something used by every manufacturer. But I'd settle for something used by more than one company, and that can be freely manufactured without paying royalties to that single company.
You do understand that to make USB cables required royalties, right? Whether Samsung or LG had to pay to have royalties to have USB cables with their phones, they each had to pay a royalty.
As for Micro-B having two different versions, that's somewhat misleading. Micro-B 2.0 cables fit into a Micro-B 3.0 connector. The reverse isn't true. For charging purposes, Micro-B 3.0 is useless, so as a universal charging standard, Micro USB is broadly compatible with devices that use it.
No it's not misleading. There were 2 different variants. I got 2 different cables. How is that in any way misleading?
The Lightning connector is an abomination of incompatibility even from a simple charging perspective, from the proprietary connector to the authentication chip whose sole purpose is to prove that you paid Apple its royalty payment, which in turn was promptly cloned badly,
Please tell me how before Lightning, you could fast charge a device using "command standard" USB? Before USB PD v1 spec was released in July 2012, this was not an option. Again, Apple released Lightning in
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Common standard means something used by every manufacturer. But I'd settle for something used by more than one company, and that can be freely manufactured without paying royalties to that single company.
You do understand that to make USB cables required royalties, right? Whether Samsung or LG had to pay to have royalties to have USB cables with their phones, they each had to pay a royalty.
Citation needed. You have to pay a fee for a vendor ID if you're not part of the USB-IF, and you have to pay a royalty if you want to use the USB logo, but there are plenty of unauthorized USB cables out there without the logo that paid no royalties. And even if you were correct, there's a huge difference between paying a royalty to a standards body to fund continued improvements to the standard and paying royalties to a single company that does nothing to improve any standard.
As for Micro-B having two different versions, that's somewhat misleading. Micro-B 2.0 cables fit into a Micro-B 3.0 connector. The reverse isn't true. For charging purposes, Micro-B 3.0 is useless, so as a universal charging standard, Micro USB is broadly compatible with devices that use it.
No it's not misleading. There were 2 different variants. I got 2 different cables. How is that in any way misleading?
Because they're compatible.
The Lightning connector is an abomination of incompatibility even from a simple charging perspective, from the proprietary connector to the authentication chip whose sole purpose is to prove that you paid Apple its royalty payment, which in turn was promptly cloned badly,
Please tell me how before Lightning, you could fast charge a device using "command standard" USB? Before USB PD v1 spec was released in July 2012, this was not an option. Again, Apple released Lightning in Sept 2012 to the public as a product and not just a specification that may take years to implement.
Y
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Citation needed. You have to pay a fee for a vendor ID if you're not part of the USB-IF, and you have to pay a royalty if you want to use the USB logo, but there are plenty of unauthorized USB cables out there without the logo that paid no royalties. And even if you were correct, there's a huge difference between paying a royalty to a standards body to fund continued improvements to the standard and paying royalties to a single company that does nothing to improve any standard.
So you admit you still have to PAY somebody something.
Because they're compatible.
Bahahaha. Plug this [digikey.com] into a solo micro B port like on a phone. Should I dremmel out the plastic parts of my phone to fit the connector?
You're completely missing the point. Apple is part of the USB-IF. If Apple could make Lightning, they could just as easily have made it part of the USB standard instead of releasing it as a proprietary connector.
How do know? Apple is not the ENTIRE USB-IF. Do you know that Apple didn't champion for their connector but the forum declined. Here's the main design change that the USB probably did not accept. Lightning is male. USB-C is female as has been all USB cables. This is change in design philosophy that the USB-IF probably didn
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Citation needed. You have to pay a fee for a vendor ID if you're not part of the USB-IF, and you have to pay a royalty if you want to use the USB logo, but there are plenty of unauthorized USB cables out there without the logo that paid no royalties. And even if you were correct, there's a huge difference between paying a royalty to a standards body to fund continued improvements to the standard and paying royalties to a single company that does nothing to improve any standard.
So you admit you still have to PAY somebody something.
No, I do not. Licensing the use of a logo is not the same thing as licensing the use of a connector. There is absolutely nothing prohibiting anyone from building USB cables that use that connector, so long as they do not use the logo.
Because they're compatible.
Bahahaha. Plug this [digikey.com] into a solo micro B port like on a phone. Should I dremmel out the plastic parts of my phone to fit the connector?
They are compatible in one direction. As I said in my original post, for charging, the extra pins are useless, so a micro-B USB 2.0 connector will work just fine even if your device has a micro-B USB 3.0 port. If you have a micro-B USB 3.0 connector, that's a data cable, it
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They are compatible in one direction. As I said in my original post, for charging, the extra pins are useless, so a micro-B USB 2.0 connector will work just fine even if your device has a micro-B USB 3.0 port. If you have a micro-B USB 3.0 connector, that's a data cable, it's almost guaranteed to be short, and you're not likely to use it for charging.
None of which I said. You missed the entire point: I can't use this cable to connect to my phone that has the other micro B port, can I? But yet again I have this cable. That was my point when I said there are two variants because the USB-IF in all it's wisdom labeled both connectors as "micro-B" when one is micro-B and one is actually micro-B + micro-A. And then there's a micro-AB which I do not own.
And if that's the case, then Apple should have worked with them to come up with a design that everyone can agree on.
So in other words, you have no proof and only accusations of what you claim Apple did or did not do. You don
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They are compatible in one direction. As I said in my original post, for charging, the extra pins are useless, so a micro-B USB 2.0 connector will work just fine even if your device has a micro-B USB 3.0 port. If you have a micro-B USB 3.0 connector, that's a data cable, it's almost guaranteed to be short, and you're not likely to use it for charging.
None of which I said. You missed the entire point: I can't use this cable to connect to my phone that has the other micro B port, can I? But yet again I have this cable.
You missed the entire point, which was that the EU rules are about a charging standard, and that cable is not intended for charging. Arguing that a short little data cable intended for plugging in your hard drive is not capable of charging your phone misses the point of the rules entirely.
That was my point when I said there are two variants because the USB-IF in all it's wisdom labeled both connectors as "micro-B" when one is micro-B and one is actually micro-B + micro-A. And then there's a micro-AB which I do not own.
USB OTG is a special kind of horror, and is yet another reason why Apple should have pushed for a USB-C-like connector sooner.
And if that's the case, then Apple should have worked with them to come up with a design that everyone can agree on.
So in other words, you have no proof and only accusations of what you claim Apple did or did not do. You don't know what standards Apple tried to implement but was rejected.
The fact that Apple released Lighting is prima facie proof that they did not work with the USB-
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I did read it. Even when Apple has a 50% market share, you must be living under a rock if all your family and friends but 1 are on iPhones.
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Let’s start with the acknowledgment that you didn’t read his statement. Now let’s discuss the actual issue: He is not you. He didn’t say how many people is in his sample size. If it is 3 people that is still statistically possible.
Anecdotally, I belong to a group text for [Sports Team] that I joined after the group was years old. 10 people that I didn’t know till 2 years ago are in this group. Every single person has an iPhone. It’s possible all of them had Androids but t
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Let’s start with the acknowledgment that you didn’t read his statement.
That would be a false assumption but let's move on
Now let’s discuss the actual issue: He is not you. He didn’t say how many people is in his sample size. If it is 3 people that is still statistically possible.
Exactly. This is what I call living under a rock.
Anecdotally, I belong to a group text for [Sports Team] that I joined after the group was years old. 10 people that I didn’t know till 2 years ago are in this group. Every single person has an iPhone. It’s possible all of them had Androids but that is not the case.
Yes well you can also win at the lottery. Chances are, you won't.
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Exactly. This is what I call living under a rock.
No I am pointing out that your ignorance of what his sample size led you to automatically conclude he was living under a rock. In other words, your ignorance is your assertion: Because you don't know . . .therefore he was living under a rock
Yes well you can also win at the lottery. Chances are, you won't.
Again. He is not you. All the people you know not having iPhones is not his situation. Anecdotally, all 10 people in my group text have iPhones. Did I write a scientific paper on how impossible this is. Am I living under a rock? No. It seems like you are unwilling to acc
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Exactly. This is what I call living under a rock.
No I am pointing out that your ignorance of what his sample size led you to automatically conclude he was living under a rock. In other words, your ignorance is your assertion: Because you don't know . . .therefore he was living under a rock
My point was that chances are that he is *not* living under a rock, and therefore has more than 3 friends/family members, and that he's just avoiding the fact that he has friends/family members with Android phones. Maybe he didn't notice. Maybe he is digging his head into the ground. Any of these explanations are fare more likely than its statement to be true. Another explanation is that maybe he stops referring to people with Android phones as his friends.
But if his statement is true, chances are he *is* l
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You said: "You must be living under a rock." when he said all the people he knew had iPhones. You didn't ask for sample size. Your ignorance of this situation led to your conclusion. You still don't know his sample size do you?
Assuming you live in a high Apple market share country (50%), . . .
Stop right there. Fact: I have 10 acquaintances that have iPhones that I didn't know 2 years ago. Somehow you seem to think in a country with a large percentage of iPhone users that 10 people all having iPhones is somehow miraculous. It is not.
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I'm just saying what I'm seeing, and in all my contacts there is only one Android user.
Re: Lets hear it (Score:2)
That's not a HUGE surprise because people of similar social classes tend to make similar purchasing decisions, and Apple has about 50% of the US market in phones. But it's still anecdotal. Not worthless, but worthless by itself.
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A lot of people stick with what they're used to, because of software purchases more than anything. In my circle, it's a 50/50 split. Very few of those have crossed to another platform, because they don't want to leave behind their apps. Much like why people stick with Windows (or macOS.)
In the past decade I've tried iPhone, Samsung and Blackberry Z10. I preferred iPhone in the long run for various factors.
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It is a HUGE surprise. If you have a small group of family/friends (let say just 15 people), chances that all of them are on iPhone is close to 0, even if you assume a 50% market share for Apple (it is about 15% worldwide, but 50% in some specific markets).
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It's not 15 coin flips at 50/50, because there are reasons why the choices of family and friends might be correlated. For example, carriers have family deals where they will probably be pushing a particular choice. Also if one family member knows a huge amount about iPhone or Android then their relatives may be persuaded to go for the same choice, because they are hearing good things about it, and/or they know they'll get tech support for minor problems.
Also 14-to-1 guy is much more likely to post than 11-t
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Even if it's not 50/50, one must still live under a rock to have all his friends/family on a single platform. Your closest relatives might follow your choices but I doubt 15, 20 or 40 family members/friends will.
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Of course Apple is not in a death spiral, like say Palm, Blackberr
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My wife likes iPhones, I only use Android. It's annoying, we need different charging cables, apps available for Android aren't on iOS and vice-versa, accessories aren't compatible with both.
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You guys should compromise* [youtube.com]
* You should use an iPhone.
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Well deserved.. (Score:1)
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I can guarantee you that 99% of the world cannot spend $350 on a phone. $200 is the high end for them. These expensive phones don't matter anywhere but the news.
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So 1% of the world buys all the iPhones? You buy an iPhone and you'll have OS updates for 5 years or so. Only a select few Android phones ever get updates even a year afterward.
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Reward Bloat (Score:5, Informative)
Samsung has some nice hardware, but most of it is wasted with crappy software.
I'm considering leaving Samsung now. Their phones are getting way too expensive, and the bloatware situation is ridiculous!
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Last time I bought a new phone 3 years ago (Galaxy S8+), I considered an LG, but there was as lot of noise in the reviews about their boot loop problem. Have they fixed it yet? Haven't heard about it in a while, but I haven't gone looking, either.
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So, jailbreak them and start clean.