iPhone, iPad user figures surprise in SA

[Kevin Lancaster]

Apple iPhone, iPad surprise in South Africa

The latest smartphone and tablet statistics from Vodacom reveal something not seen before

 

[JStrike]

This is not exactly surprising. We have a small amount of wealthy and upper-middle income people in the country. I would have thought they would have reached saturation a while ago

 

[abandonallhope]

This is not exactly surprising. We have a small amount of wealthy and upper-middle income people in the country. I would have thought they would have reached saturation a while ago

So rich people buy Apple, and peasants buy Android/Windows ?

lol ok

Then again JStrike, what is R10 000 for a tablet ? R10 000 is what I spend on toilet paper every week...

 

[TheGuy]

This is not exactly surprising. We have a small amount of wealthy and upper-middle income people in the country. I would have thought they would have reached saturation a while ago

Not really most middle and upper class people tend to upgrade every 2 years so this mean the number should keep increasing as the older phones become hand me downs.

 

[recre8]

I wish they would publish a chart of their data usage according to mobile platform also.

 

[Spyk3r]

So rich people buy Apple, and peasants buy Android/Windows ?

lol ok

Then again JStrike, what is R10 000 for a tablet ? R10 000 is what I spend on toilet paper every week...

I don't think you need to go on the offensive

What he is saying is on the android market, you can gain access for less than R1000 (For a new phone), however, with Apple, the access point on a new phone is around R6k for the 4s 8gb model. So the barrier to entry is much higher for Apple products.

Not that Android is for peasants...

 

[Skerminkel]

Now there is a graph that speaks a thousand words!
The ball dropping of Symbian by Nokia remains epic.

 

[sand_man]

I'm afraid Vodacom's sales figures will never hold any credibility with me. Not after having to wait just shy of 3 months for my last upgrade. iPhone 5.

 

[abandonallhope]

I don't think you need to go on the offensive

What he is saying is on the android market, you can gain access for less than R1000 (For a new phone), however, with Apple, the access point on a new phone is around R6k for the 4s 8gb model. So the barrier to entry is much higher for Apple products.

Not that Android is for peasants...

Us peasants don't think twice about getting a ~R350 p/m contract for a 16Gb ipad or iphone 5c. So the bar isn't really as high as you reckon.

 

[genetic]

This is not exactly surprising. We have a small amount of wealthy and upper-middle income people in the country. I would have thought they would have reached saturation a while ago

Saturation?

What is saturation point?

The only reason Apple have lost ground is because of a lot more cheaper Android devices entering the market, offering the same, if not more functionality than an Apple device.

 

[Dolby]

Us peasants don't think twice about getting a ~R350 p/m contract for a 16Gb ipad or iphone 5c. So the bar isn't really as high as you reckon.

Remember Apple folk are elitist and have a really warped idea what other phones cost. General attitude is you have something else therefore you cannot afford it.

They forget that many Android phones are the same price and chosen over an iPhone on technical merit and abilities.

 

[elvis_presley]

I'm afraid Vodacom's sales figures will never hold any credibility with me. Not after having to wait just shy of 3 months for my last upgrade. iPhone 5.

These aren't sales figures; they're devices in use on the network. It's very easy for a provider to get very accurate figures like this, so unless they're outright lying in some anti-Apple conspracy, the numbers should be taken seriously.

 

[TofuMofu]

I bought my first iPhone a few months ago, not that I wasn't willing to wait for the new one, I needed a new phone as mine was broken and didn't like the Andriods on offer and felt like something different from my Lumia that I had before.

To be fair, I'm a bit biased as I do not like Andriod

 

[jax_maxit]

I'd like to see the Blackberry figures broken down to "legacy" vs "Bb 10." With so many free WiFi hotspots and mobile in-taxi WiFi in GP, I don't understand why Curves and Bolds still sell (BIS). And these devices are not cheaper than Android phones.

 

[JimboBob]

I think it's just a pure numbers game. If you look at it, only Apple, Blackberry and maybe Microsoft don't make Android phones. It's inevitable that Android will start eclipsing these smaller OS's.

 

[abandonallhope]

I bought my first iPhone a few months ago, not that I wasn't willing to wait for the new one, I needed a new phone as mine was broken and didn't like the Andriods on offer and felt like something different from my Lumia that I had before.

To be fair, I'm a bit biased as I do not like Andriod

I've recently had a pretty big change in thinking about android. I think it's pretty decent and all, but I have quite a strong dislike for Google's business model : Their revenue comes from constantly advertising to me stuff I have no interest in seeing, and they have no problem keeping tabs on every activity I do through out their range of products/services to profile me.

At least MS and Apple do not rely solely on advertising to keep the ship afloat.

 

[genetic]

I've recently had a pretty big change in thinking about android. I think it's pretty decent and all, but I have quite a strong dislike for Google's business model : Their revenue comes from constantly advertising to me stuff I have no interest in seeing, and they have no problem keeping tabs on every activity I do through out their range of products/services to profile me.

At least MS and Apple do not rely solely on advertising to keep the ship afloat.

Show me one android device that has displayed even one advert.

 

[JimM]

Probably due to the consumer starting to realise that the iPhone isn't actually all it's cracked up to be...

In truth, it's of poor quality (made in numerous Chinese sweat shops) to say the least. However, Apple have succeeded in being able to present the device as a smart must have!

Plus you have the 'big brother' features built-in... There is no reason to use a Nano SIM except that once a customer has got a Nano SIM they assume (wrongly) that they can only use Apple devices! AKA a marketing ploy!

At least the build quality of Korean handsets walks all over that of Apple.

 

[Skerminkel]

...
At least MS and Apple do not rely solely on advertising to keep the ship afloat.

Show me one android device that has displayed even one advert.

You know what he means. Google knows what you are doing in your browser (chrome), search results and phone, through location, etc.

My opinion is that my info suddenly has an economic value. If I can now use it as payment for a product, great. As long as I am savvy enough to know the value of the information, win-win.

 

[abandonallhope]

Show me one android device that has displayed even one advert.

I'd prefer it if Google didn't know about all the porn I search for.