What would be really interesting a year or two from now is if you take out the really low-end effectively dumb-phone Androids and compare to all iPhones, including the "entry level" cheaper iPhone which will inevitably be released.
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So it includes all of the iPods, iPads, and iPad Minis as well as the iPhones?Ok, if it pleases you, we can say
IOS shipped vs Andriod shipped. The graph is the same but it might make you just a little bit happier in life.
Only a fool will disregard the Chinese and Indian markets and make them out as inferior for statistical purposes. It is where all the action is. Those markets count big-time and the cheap Android devices are as valuable to Google as the expensive ones. The price of the device says f-all. It is about the number of users tied to a specific system. As these markets develop people will upgrade to more expensive devices ... [-]and then they are already captured into the Google ecosystem.[/-] like iPhones.
No matter how anyone will try to make the graph seem wrong/irrelevant/blah blah blah ... the fact is that a heck of a large % of smartphone users worldwide are linked into Google's ecosystem and that has always been Google's mobile device strategy. And it is working out fantastically well for them. The little robots are linked to the mothership and Google has "eyes and ears" everywhere.
I often hear the argument about Apple's far superior ecosystem. Well, it depends on what definitions and scope is applied (what is in and what is out, and what the motives and goals are). That graph says Google is building a very very good ecosystem, but one that is not about nice high-end toys but rather one that is about interonnecting as many people and things as possible and linking them all to the Google mothership. Thát is a successful ecosystem of note right there in my books.
So it includes all of the iPods, iPads, and iPad Minis as well as the iPhones?
The vast majority of the low-end Android phone users did not buy into any eco-system. They just bought the cheapest phone they could get.
The may not have bought into it but they are now part of it. The two ecosystems are not the same. And that is the idea. Google is building something different from Apple. Microsoft seems to want to copy the Apple one with a little bit of the Google one mixed-in. As an Android user (cheap or expensive devices) one opens a Google account and then get linked to the mothership. As part of this all account holders have access to Google's apps and free software. Add Google+ to the mix (which I much prefer over Facebook).When one signs up with Google you're inside.
BTW those cheap Android phones can do a lot. It may not do it as fast or as elegant, but it still runs those apps. My daughter got herself the Galaxy Y Pro at Cell C real cheap ... and it works great for her coming from BlackBerry. She's now inside the Google ecosystem ... and got in cheap. Working with this cheap phone convinced her of the power of Android and she took over my SGT10.1 tablet as a result. She was offered an iPad 2 but chose the Android tablet.
Get them in first (cheap) ... and then hold on to them and milk them later. Rumours are that Apple is now considering the same strategy = cheaper iPhone.
So it includes all of the iPods, iPads, and iPad Minis as well as the iPhones?
The vast majority of the low-end Android phone users did not buy into any eco-system. They just bought the cheapest phone they could get.
Android phones are the only ones that you never have to "activate".
So if you just want to phone and sms & never login to any google account, you're not part of any "eco system".
Whats the point then? You might as well have a Nokia 3210.