iPhone Buying Interest Continues To Drop

How can this be possible? People aren't interested in "magical" phones anymore?

Polling 1,016 consumers in the US last week about their intended smartphone purchases over the next three months, Munster's team found that 34 percent expect to buy an iPhone. That number is down from 39 percent in February, 44 percent last December, and 50 percent just after the launch of the iPhone 5S last September.

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Anecdotal evidence, but most people around me aren't so keen as they were in the past about buying a new smartphone of any brand/model.

I'll be one of the first in line for the iPhone 6. I won't touch a crashy Malwaredroid phone ever again. Deploying them in the enterprise is equally a pain in the ass due to crappy APIs that prevent external automation.

I switched from an iPhone 5s to a Samsung Galaxy S4 last year (have the S5 now). There really is no comparison. There's no way I could ever go back to such an inferior phone.

Not surprising, iPhones are inferior hardware these days compared to Android options, and the market is also somewhat saturated since many are happy to use an iPhone 4 or 5 and don't need a 5S.

shade91 said:

I'll be one of the first in line for the iPhone 6. I won't touch a crashy Malwaredroid phone ever again. Deploying them in the enterprise is equally a pain in the ass due to crappy APIs that prevent external automation.

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While the iPhone is losing market share its total sales volume is still growing and doing well, but not as fast an Android phones. It's the iPad that seems to be faring much worse these days than the iPhone. Not that the iPad is doing badly, but its sales frequently have big drops between quarters and year over year where the iPhone doesn't experience this..

shade91 said:

I'll be one of the first in line for the iPhone 6. I won't touch a crashy Malwaredroid phone ever again. Deploying them in the enterprise is equally a pain in the ass due to crappy APIs that prevent external automation.

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Although I personally prefer Android... I agree Android is a cluster Fuck for enterprise deployment.

shade91 said:

I'll be one of the first in line for the iPhone 6. I won't touch a crashy Malwaredroid phone ever again. Deploying them in the enterprise is equally a pain in the ass due to crappy APIs that prevent external automation.

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You would have still had a shred of credibility in your remarks if you didn't slur it by saying "crashy Malwaredroid".

Disable loading apps from other sources and you won't have issues with Malware. Google scans all apps at runtime and install.

Then again, you'd know this had you actually been an active user of Android.

Also.

iOS apps crash more often than Android.

http://gigaom.com/2014/03/28/study-shows-ios-apps-crash-more-than-android/

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/so...e-than-twice-as-often-as-android-apps-1238219

TFA said:

According to Crittercism, apps on iOS 7.1 crash a meagre 1.6 per cent of the time, which is the best performance ever for iOS.
However, devices running Google Android 4.0 and up experience apps crashes just 0.7 per cent of the time.
That means, for every app crash on Android, there's more than two on iOS devices.

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iPhones are great phones. Just as they have been for the past few years. That's the thing, though - there is nothing really spectacular about them. They are solid, stable smartphones that just work. I see Apple caught in the same rut that Blackberry was. They had a successful device, but failed to move forward (or not fast enough). They just don't stand up to the competition. They would need something awesome that makes people say "Wow. That's new. No one else has that, and it's useful and exciting". Android evolves, Windows Phone is nice and moving forward. iOS is just stagnant compared to those...

The iPhone is a great phone. It's just nothing exciting and fresh anymore. It's like the beige, boring PC. It works wonderfully, but it's just blah.

The difference between the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the iPhone 5s - hell even the S4 - is brutally apparent. One feels like a toy, the other a portable computer. Hell the 5s STILL records mono audio when you shoot video. But thankfully for Apple people are still going to line up for iPhones regardless of how behind they are spec and ability-wise compared to the competition.

A poll of a thousand people, seems relevant to the millions who buy phones. The fact that the iPhone 6 will most likely have a bigger screen also probably has NOTHING to do with it either. Sometimes I wonder if anyone actually thinks before they post in these threads.

Simple phone for simple people... that's why it caught fire and sold a ton. It's still doing well, but eventually even the dumbest of people will realize it's not worth another 600 dollars a year just to have a special color phone or a camera that's 2% better than last time.

When it hit in 2007 it was a game changer and quite amazing. Happy they shook up the mobile world, but they have rested on their laurels for too long.

To the gentlemen complaining about malware on android.... I'd love to have a look at your browser history. As well as seriously ask: Do you even read descriptions of apps you install? or do you just blindly install anything and everything you come across?

In the past 6 years with android i've never had ONE virus or piece of malware. It probably helps a lot that I don't watch porn and try to download shady shit from russian torrent sites on my phone.

disastronaut said:

The difference between the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the iPhone 5s - hell even the S4 - is brutally apparent. One feels like a toy, the other a portable computer. Hell the 5s STILL records mono audio when you shoot video. But thankfully for Apple people are still going to line up for iPhones regardless of how behind they are spec and ability-wise compared to the competition.

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The issue, along the lines that you stated, for me is this:

iOS reminds me more of how phones used to be versus how they are now with Android. Closed file systems, only one place to buy apps for it, need bloated PC software to sync outside of online services, limited in what you can download and open files with... All of these were issues I had with my last flip phone but not issues I have with Android. Remember only being allowed to buy apps and ringtones from your carrier or device maker only?

Having used both iOS and Android extensively, working on Linux, Windows and OSX machines...

Using iOS in a nutshell: extremely restraining.

Just to get as much functionality as Android has out of the box, you have to jailbreak iOS... and even then, the quality of the repos in Cydia leaves a bit much to be desired.

Just because you have the option to tinker, however, doesn't mean you have to. But you still have the option instead of having to compromise the security of your device with jailbreak methods.

Can't spell Apple Butt[H]urt without the [H].

xIronCrossx said:

A poll of a thousand people, seems relevant to the millions who buy phones. The fact that the iPhone 6 will most likely have a bigger screen also probably has NOTHING to do with it either. Sometimes I wonder if anyone actually thinks before they post in these threads.

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Any survey -- on any topic is usually an incredibly small sample that's highly localized. No matter which side we argue the numbers are mostly bullshit.

What I find amusing is in the years past the die hard apple fans would argue to the death that a bigger screen isn't needed. How it's the perfect device exactly how it was.

After 7 years when it finally joins the rest of the world and gets a bigger screen, there will be the crazies that come out of the woodwork and praise it as the next coming of jesus. How Apple was "Just waiting for the right time" to release this incredibly magic "feature".

bucket said:

I switched from an iPhone 5s to a Samsung Galaxy S4 last year (have the S5 now). There really is no comparison. There's no way I could ever go back to such an inferior phone.

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I've also used numerous iphones and have stuck with the s3 s4 and now s5. Apple is craptastic compared to a nice rooted top of the line android device.

Apple is craptastic compared to a nice rooted top of the line android device.

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So you have to root your device to break it from carrier/manufacturerer restrictions? Yet the biggest complaint is that you have to jailbreak an idevice?

Double standard?

Precision pen enabled devices with nicely sized display are the future. Just pre-ordered a Surface Pro 3 to complement the Galaxy Note series.

iPhone will still be popular as a fashion statement with females though.

techrat said:

The issue, along the lines that you stated, for me is this:

iOS reminds me more of how phones used to be versus how they are now with Android. Closed file systems, only one place to buy apps for it, need bloated PC software to sync outside of online services, limited in what you can download and open files with... All of these were issues I had with my last flip phone but not issues I have with Android. Remember only being allowed to buy apps and ringtones from your carrier or device maker only?

Having used both iOS and Android extensively, working on Linux, Windows and OSX machines...

Using iOS in a nutshell: extremely restraining.

Just to get as much functionality as Android has out of the box, you have to jailbreak iOS... and even then, the quality of the repos in Cydia leaves a bit much to be desired.

Just because you have the option to tinker, however, doesn't mean you have to. But you still have the option instead of having to compromise the security of your device with jailbreak methods.

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First it was a tweenie thing. Then a old people thing... Still continues to be very much a old people dominated phone.

Old people want simple and they will pay for it. As long as that's the case the iPhone will have a market.

Tweenies... Have been leaving the iPhone market in troves.

Too bad all apple has left is iphone and ipads. When jobs died so did apples ability to come out with something new.

mi7chy said:

Precision pen enabled devices with nicely sized display are the future. Just pre-ordered a Surface Pro 3 to complement the Galaxy Note series.

iPhone will still be popular as a fashion statement with females though.

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Lol as long as you mean most welfare recipients in line at Walmart spending your tax dollars on a iPhone... I agree.

I'm not excited about any phones. The iPhones were "magical" when most Androids (and the OS) were garbage. Problem is, Apple hasn't innovated and Android is still quirky. Plus, no matter how many reviews I see of the S4 and the HTC One...they do still feel a bit cheap to me.
Apple locks you down and makes you feel like you aren't in control. Android feels like that souped up junker that goes fast, but is still a POS at heart.

meh with all the Hate for apple here. Every people i know who own/owned an android phone would never get one EVER again.

Apple is simple , and a phone needs to be for 99.99% of people.

First it was a tweenie thing. Then a old people thing... Still continues to be very much a old people dominated phone.

Old people want simple and they will pay for it. As long as that's the case the iPhone will have a market.

Tweenies... Have been leaving the iPhone market in troves.

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Yeah, you have a seriously distorted view of this world. I am not sure what Tweenies means but if it is teens then they take whatever their parents give them.

Late teens early twenties? Yeah, I have four young professionals right around me who ALL have iPhones.

Once again, fashion statement? Nobody gives a shit about your phone, hate to break it to you. I am not sure what drives them to iPhone but this mythical group of people who stand around and talk about their phone only exist in your head.

The real world and phone market is nothing like [H]ard forum.

I love Apple for iphone/ipad combo but prefer Windows for everything else (laptop/desktop).

As an iphone 5 user that skipped on the 5s, i'm looking forward to the 6.

In fact the only people who talk about the phone are probably on this forum, and guess what if you do you are THAT GUY.

i think they'll see a big jump with the next iphone. my hunch tells me that most iphone users held off the last version 5s b/c it did not offer much over the previous model. but i think a lot will upgrade to the next one

arr4ws said:

Apple is simple

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Simple can be bad is it's restrictive and frustrating which I how I feel using my iOS device. The UI is an afterthought mess and not very intuitive.

arr4ws said:

meh with all the Hate for apple here. Every people i know who own/owned an android phone would never get one EVER again.

Apple is simple , and a phone needs to be for 99.99% of people.

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Honestly... Android IMO is not anymore difficult to teach someone who has never used a smart phone. I've had just as much teaching newcomers each OS. Just my experience.

illli said:

i think they'll see a big jump with the next iphone. my hunch tells me that most iphone users held off the last version 5s b/c it did not offer much over the previous model. but i think a lot will upgrade to the next one

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That's a fact. Been posted via numerous polls and internal apple polling.

Gotta love the fanboys of both sides...love the drama, makes for a good read on my devices from the major ecosystems lol

As a current Galaxy S4 owner and past iPhone owner, I can't really see a clear cut win for either side. On one hand my S4 has been the laggiest, most crash prone phone I've ever had, despite what any survey says. My iPhones always seemed to develop network issues that were not fixed with a dfu mode restore. Even with my wifes iPhone 5, I pick it up and I'm still amazed with how smooth it is. Even my "more powerful" S4 with the Nova launcher it isn't even close. I then soon get frustrated in the simplicity, or lack of features/functions. with the iPhone. Bah, use what works best for you. Neither phone dominates the other imo.

It not much iPhones/iPad/iPod are inferior hardware.
It BS OS software plain but update god help if don't update it being useless brick or door stop.
All os it BS and I have use iTunes bloatware in order to get MP3 on it and don't believe so called No iTunes needed Windows Apps you still have to have iTunes in order for so called 3rdparty to work so what point of add more carp on top of more bloatware.

While I am an Android user and have always been... things have worked pretty well for the most part.

Though Google really does have to polish their OS and services. A "normal" person was a Apple only nut... she tried Android and is going back for 2 simple but big issues. 1. her phone took bad night shots (apple phone software is good). 2. Her pictures on iPhone easily and effortlessly uploads to the cloud.

Android? Good luck, they have multiple services that handles photos and they barely integrate in any sort of unified way... Want to auto-upload your android pictures (with built in software)... Well they will go to Google+ which uses your GDrive space but for some reason doesn't let you access the files in drive directly.

Then if you want to use Picasa to manage your photos it can only do so if your have physical photo files in GDrive... At least here it will also put them in Google+ as well if you use that service at all.

So now I have to download some 3rd party app with adds to sync or download my phone pics to GDrive as files instead of directly into Google+...

I am sorry but this is retarded... While yes Android is flexible and should be... Google should already streamline and make their services work together, I am paying with my info/data and extra GDrive space.

I've had a 4s for over two years now. Needs a new battery but, otherwise does exactly what I need. The extent of crashing is generally the browser and thats maybe once a month.

Last Droid I had... locked up, hard reset itself, wouldn't receive calls.. maybe a few other things, its been a while.

Not sure what some of you guys do with your phones but, mine does exactly what I need.. to use an old cliche.. "it just works".

All I know is I bought a Note2 and my wife got a S3 X-Mas time a year ago. They always work, they don't crash and have problems from what we have seen. I have been looking at those slick looking M8s, sometimes my Note2 is too big but sometimes that big screen is so nice. trade offs. That's what I know, what I have seen myself. And I don't give a rats ass for what anyone else says about it, my experience is what I've seen.

dandirk said:

Though Google really does have to polish their OS and services. A "normal" person was a Apple only nut... she tried Android and is going back for 2 simple but big issues. 1. her phone took bad night shots (apple phone software is good).

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Re 1: Android is not a brand of Phone. Android is the OS that runs on various brands of phone. Don't like the way Model X shoots photos? Buy model Y.

Same argument as buying "Windows Laptops" of various configs yet people on here can't seem to grasp it when it's applied to Phones. If you think the webcam built into the laptop sucks, you don't blame Windows, you blame Acer.

I think people get that, they just misuse it. Just like most people still refer to monitors as 1080p,1200p,11xtyp on these forums. Since when have you seen a 1080i monitor?

I've got iOS for personal use and android for work. IMO there is no clear winner.

1) For taking media with me, microSD and android rule. I've never found ipods to have a nice interface, and the iphone music interface isn't an improvement IMO. The stock android media player is lame, but there are good third party options.

2) Size. My s3 is about the perfect compromise of screen size and pocketability, but I hate the pixel density at that size. Applke had it right about pixel density. I'd say android makers have it right about screen size, but I've met the S5 and it is stupid. It is big enough to be awkward like a note, and not as big as a note. Your mileage may vary, but I think the screens ize wars are stupid much like the megapixel wars in point and shoots made for blotch noisy crap images. There's clearly a market for phablets, but running up the smart phone category to be 0.1" less in screen size is stupid, and that seems where it is going. Regardless of the screen size wars, all the big makers have at least one phone of a reasonable size with decent pixel density, apple HAS to get off the stupid small screen is the one true way obsession.

3) Build quality. My S3 is perfectly usable, but I have to say the iphone spoiled me. Some of the HTC offerings are nice, but the ones that are have no removable media, which kills android for me. The S3 is nice and light, but the plasticy feel gets to me. I've met the S5 and build is a bit nicer than the s3/s4.

4) Provisioning. Android taken as the latest and greatest is frikin stupid, and god help you if you are dealing with BYOD style provisioning with android. Iphone is pretty low pain in that regard. But andorid is just aweful in terms of wi-fi certs, active sync security, etc. The removable media I like and being able to treat them like thumb drives is a HUGE problem for security compliance for a number of regulatory requirements.

5) App ecosystem. IT used to be that apple own hands down. Now, it is sort of asking youself shall I submerge my head in a bucket of shit, or a bucket of belnded well aged road kill. The crap ware, spyware/freeware combos, and shovelware clones kill the signal to noise ratio. The only thing I cna say I notice a difference on is that, for software of reasonable quality on both platforms (i.e not shovelware), odds of something being abandoned with bugs or being abandoned to become version incompatible are higher on android. Both overall are becoming and increasingly similar awful experience.

6) UI. android gadget/widget/whatevers are pretty nice, as are lock screen skins. NFC tags can be put to pretty cool use. For 90% of my use, there's no real difference. Adjusted for inflation, that essentially means android has improved a LOT since my first device (galaxy S).

7) Camera. I dunno if it has been that I'm dealing with mostly samsung and asus android devices, but dear god the cameras are pretty crap. Apple has hit decent point and shoot quality with the 4, and has improved at least a little since then with every revision. With android, I'm still grabbing brand new devices, and it's pot luck if I feel like I've just gone back to 2008 for taking pictures.

8) wi-fi. much like the camera, this is HIGHLY variable among android devices. The phones at least seem to be getting a bit more consistently good, but I literally had high end andorid stuff that had issues getting full signals while within line of sight of a router at 30 feet. The provisioning issues with wi-fi certs also leads to situations of mystery wi-fi connection loops that chew through battery like there's no tomorrow. Iphones have been consistently pretty good, and have dealt with error situations more sanely.

I left my iPhone 4S for a Nexus 5. Could not be happier. For one thing, I can access my Nexus like a portable flash drive and copy my files to and from without iTunes.

An additional Micro USB cable didn't cost $34.99; it was 2 bucks and works perfectly.

Apple; never again.