iPhone6 will kill high end Android phones in the US

[poofyhairguy]

The mistake your making is assuming that Apple will kill the high end Android market, that's not true. Android will kill the high end Android market, we already have el-cheapo phones like OnePlus that mirror high-end Android devices for a cheaper price. This is amazing for the consumer but I don't think Samsung, HTC, and the other highend Android vendors are happy about this.

I don't really see that happening either, at least in America. Thanks to subsidized prices the flagships seem to cost less than some awesome third party phone out of contract. That plus the fact that consumers around the world love to buy based on brand and I don't think Samsung is worried about the OnePlus.

The Android high-end market IS coming down in price, at least the non-subsidized prices. But I don't see that as the end of the line, just that thanks to competition the high-end on the Android side can't carry the margin the high-end on the iOS side can.

The real value in Android is the midrange and lowend, especially the lowend. Compare a 5C to other free with contract phones and its still a small screen joke.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Sadly, I may return to the world of iphone because I actually think iTunes is the best music management program I have used. And I think I've tried them all. I also like mediamonkey, but not as much.

I'm actually kinda curious what management features iTunes does well. I've always just put all my music onto my phone so perhaps there's something useful I've been missing?

 

[ponyo]

Again, you are NOT the average consumer.

It was ALWAYS the bigger screens that kept people tied to high-end Android.

Average consumer owns an Android phone. Unless Apple lowers their price and pays them to switch, they're not all suddenly going to buy the bigger and more expensive iPhone 6.

 

[poofyhairguy]

There are literally no major consumer facing features that Android has that consumers are wanting on iOS.

Sure. Consumers hate waterproofing, file sharing via NFC, stylus use and multi-window use. That is why Samsung keeps pushing those features in each commercial, because millions spent on focus groups tells them the ONLY feature they have worth a damn is a large screen.

 

[Elganja]

There are literally no major consumer facing features that Android has that consumers are wanting on iOS.

It has always been the larger screens. We're already seeing evidence of iPhone6's being sold in record numbers. High-end Android manufacturers are indeed shitting their pants right now. Apple is coming for their lunch money.

those record numbers are skewed heavily due to the fact that apple/carriers are offering incentives to trade in your old iPhones

so while they are "selling" more, their market share is NOT growing as much as they are "selling"

 

[Yuriman]

There are literally no major consumer facing features that Android has that consumers are wanting on iOS.

It has always been the larger screens. We're already seeing evidence of iPhone6's being sold in record numbers. High-end Android manufacturers are indeed shitting their pants right now. Apple is coming for their lunch money.

My wife was very happy to get out of the Apple ecosystem, the only thing keeping her with it was the lack of decent small android phones, and she's very much your "average user". We picked up a pair of Moto X's and she's very happy, and we've been eyeballing Sony's Xperia Compacts for our next phones.

Her parents are diehard Apple-drones (not to say that anyone who likes an Apple product is a drone, this is just what they are), and even they quit buying new iPhones when iOS 7 came out. They'll probably milk their 4S's with 6 until they break the screens, the batteries die, or Apple makes iTunes for OSX incompatible with them or some other nonsense.

Preferences aside, iPhones are also rather expensive. With carrier subsidies going away, people may think twice before spending $800 on a phone.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

I'm actually kinda curious what management features iTunes does well. I've always just put all my music onto my phone so perhaps there's something useful I've been missing?

It really doesn't do anything that well. But, if I use iTunes I can speak to Siri and get her to play a specific song when I want. Very useful in the car. I can't do that with my android phone right now. Although, I'd imagine if I tried hard enough I could probably find a way. My GF has an iphone, so I have done pretty thorough testing.

I just had an easier time managing, renaming, playlisting all my random mp3 files with iTunes, than I have had with any other music manager. Mediamonkey is quite close though. The synergy with iTunes and the iPhone is what I'm looking for though.

 

[sze5003]

I doubt it will. There are a lot of techies the out there that won't touch an iPhone. IPhone just now added stuff that andrioid has had since 2012..I mean processor may be new but everything else aside look at nexus 5.

Custom keyboards is nothing new. To each his own though. There is no way why the iPhone would kill android just because of the screen size.

 

[badb0y]

I don't really see that happening either, at least in America. Thanks to subsidized prices the flagships seem to cost less than some awesome third party phone out of contract. That plus the fact that consumers around the world love to buy based on brand and I don't think Samsung is worried about the OnePlus.

Carriers are moving away from subsidies as they push their new financing options. OnePlus isn't the only phone out there though, we have the Nexus phones, and we have some decent Chinese handsets coming in that cost very little yet perform very well. This was the EXACT problem PCs had.

The Android high-end market IS coming down in price, at least the non-subsidized prices. But I don't see that as the end of the line, just that thanks to competition the high-end on the Android side can't carry the margin the high-end on the iOS side can.

That's just because of the competition of the high-end Android device makers amongst themselves. If we have a few more of these new Chinese companies jump in, your going to see a free fall sooner rather than later.

The real value in Android is the midrange and lowend, especially the lowend. Compare a 5C to other free with contract phones and its still a small screen joke.

That's because Apple don't give a **** about the mid-lowend market.

EDIT: Also OP you are wrong, Apple won't kill the highend Android market...

 

[Jeraden]

The latest top-of-the line high end phone from either camp will always outshine the previous top-of-the-line high end phone from the other camp. The more time passes, the harder it is to switch camps anyways, else you lose all the apps/music/etc that you've purchased for your phone. Iphone people aren't going to want to lose all their itunes, and android folk aren't going to want to have to re-buy all their google play purchases.

 

[poofyhairguy]

But, if I use iTunes I can speak to Siri and get her to play a specific song when I want. Very useful in the car.

Google Music can also do that, do it daily.

 

[ControlD]

There are literally no major consumer facing features that Android has that consumers are wanting on iOS.

I'm curious what the "major consumer facing features" iOS has that consumers are wanting on Android? It seems to me that there is a fair amount of feature parity at this point. What is it about the new iPhone that is going to convince someone to abandon all of the money they have spent on apps and accessories simply to get roughly (because there are differences as noted) the same features?

 

[desura]

OP has a point.

We're electronics nerds here on this forum and can rattle off a bunch of jibber-jabber about quad core snapdragon with hyper clocking and (especially) the sd card slot.

But most people just go in a store and get whatever the salesperson talks them into.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

Google Music can also do that, do it daily.

Do you have the paid subscription? I can't figure out why it wont work for me. But I know that it doesn't.

I dont even use itunes right now, and I imagine if I started again I would realize why I hated it and stopped using it. Also, the amount of time its gonna take to re-tailor everything if I do start using it again....will be a lot of time.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Carriers are moving away from subsidies as they push their new financing options.

There is a big difference between that and people buying straight out of contract phones. If anything the new financing options are for people who can't wait two years for a new high-end smartphone. They are not the OnePlus target market.

OnePlus isn't the only phone out there though, we have the Nexus phones, and we have some decent Chinese handsets coming in that cost very little yet perform very well. This was the EXACT problem PCs had.

Except the Nexus nor any of the Chinese companies are making a dent in the US market. And its nothing like PCs- unlike PCs that just get BETTER with an online connection, these phones are pretty much worthless without a wireless plan. That means the subsidy option will always exist in some form, and so will messed up consumer pricing expectations.

We are seeing out of contract high-end Android prices fall, but that is a small part of the domestic high-end phone sales.

 

[Scarpozzi]

The open-source side of Android beats iPhone apps. Android simply pairs better with windows/linux desktops.

Apple does make a nice phone and the look & feel is polished...always has been. There will always be competition and hold outs on both sides. With the new windows phone market and price point, I predict we'll continue to see more competition in this space. This is especially so as more companies spring up buying 2nd tier prepaid minutes and people no longer pay to subsidize their phone purchases through contracts.

 

[ChronoReverse]

I just had an easier time managing, renaming, playlisting all my random mp3 files with iTunes, than I have had with any other music manager. Mediamonkey is quite close though. The synergy with iTunes and the iPhone is what I'm looking for though.

Ah, thanks for the info. I've fully tagged all my music a long time ago (and new stuff tends to be properly tagged) so I guess I'm not missing something important for my purposes. I can see how a good manager can be useful though.

 

[purbeast0]

serious question - do android phones ever have lines and lines of people waiting to preorder and purchase them?

i just went to pick up my ip6 from the apple store in a mall around my job. i ordered it last night after returning my ip6+. i expected to be able to just go in the store, pick it up, and leave. but no ... there was a damn line for people to wait in OUTSIDE the store for those who were picking it up. i was 5th in line. then there was another line around the side of the store with 30+ people in it that were waiting to see what inventory they could buy. if they weren't idiots, they could just order it online from their phone while waiting in that line, and go into the shorter line.

and then inside the store ... holy shit it was so crowded. this is the first time i've ever purchased something from the apple store, and while it was painless, i could not believe how crowded it was, 5 days after launch, in the middle of the day during the work week.

have their been devices on android that have this kind of craze around them?

 

[poofyhairguy]

Do you have the paid subscription?

No. I just had to load in my music.

 

[poofyhairguy]

But most people just go in a store and get whatever the salesperson talks them into.

Exactly why OP is wrong.

Verizon and AT&T don't want Apple to "win" the high-end market. Top Android phones give them a higher margin and a bigger chance to push their shovelware/features.

They will lean on the salesforce to keep selling Android, and that is what will happen.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

Ah, thanks for the info. I've fully tagged all my music a long time ago (and new stuff tends to be properly tagged) so I guess I'm not missing something important for my purposes. I can see how a good manager can be useful though.

Thats probably my problem. A lack of consistent tagging. Almost everything on my phone right now, however, is properly tagged, and I still can't get "ok google" to play a specific song when I want it to. Very frustrating. I feel that the voice recognition is overall better with Siri.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Almost everything on my phone right now, however, is properly tagged

Ahh that might be it. I keep my music in the Google cloud.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

No. I just had to load in my music.

Could you tell me exactly what you're saying to do this? I may have to do more testing...

I have a perfectly functional phone right now so I can wait this out until I'm certain about my next move.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

Ahh that might be it. I keep my music in the Google cloud.

Hmm. I have a ton of music in the cloud but not nearly all of it. That limitation of 25k songs is killin me.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Hmm. I have a ton of music in the cloud but not nearly all of it. That limitation of 25k songs is killin me.

Does that stuff play when you ask Google?