"You're holding it wrong" - Steve Jobs
Apple has put out plenty of subpar experiences in the past, and there's no reason they wouldn't do it in the future.
Globally, Android has had about 70% to 75% market share, and Apple has always had a much smaller slice of the total. iPhones are not as popular as you seem to think they are. You don't have to believe me, the data proves it:
https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/worldwide/...
Android has the majority share because "Android" is anything from a $100 piece of junk to a $1200 phone. If you look at only the premium market, Apple holds ~70% market share.
Despite antenna gate, it still sold plenty, which proves the point about brand trust that the thread was about.
If the brand equity wasn't there, the Galaxy S would have out sold the iPhone 4, but it didn't, it sold half as much.
"far outsell" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
The iPhone has a market share of 60% in the US [1]. The leading Android manufacturer Samsung has a market share of 22% in the US.
These numbers are from last year; the iPhone sold like hotcakes in the European 5, the US (of course), Australia, Mainland China and Japan [2].
BTW, the European 5 consists of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK.
Apple by itself globally makes up about 43% of the revenue in the smartphone market [3].
Yes, devices running the Android operating system sell a lot of units; the majority of them are no-frills devices from manufacturers most people have never heard of. Which is fine—having a phone is better than not having one.
But don’t act like Android is some kind of juggernaut; these five markets represent 2.24 billion people and 60% of the world's GDP. Android isn’t the bestselling phone in any of these countries.
# Top Selling Models
European 5
| Rank | Model |
|------|--------------------|
| 1 | iPhone 16 Pro |
| 2 | Samsung Galaxy A55 |
| 3 | iPhone 15 |
| 4 | iPhone 16 |
| 5 | iPhone 16 Pro Max |
US
| Rank | Model |
|------|-------------------|
| 1 | iPhone 16 Pro Max |
| 2 | iPhone 16 |
| 3 | iPhone 16 Pro |
| 4 | iPhone 15 |
| 5 | iPhone 14 |
Australia
| Rank | Model |
|------|-------------------|
| 1 | iPhone 16 Pro Max |
| 2 | iPhone 16 |
| 3 | iPhone 16 Pro |
| 4 | iPhone 12 |
| 5 | Samsung Galaxy A35|
Mainland China
| Rank | Model |
|------|--------------------|
| 1 | iPhone 16 Pro Max |
| 2 | iPhone 16 Pro |
| 3 | iPhone 16 |
| 4 | Huawei Mate 60 Pro |
| 5 | Huawei Mate 60 |
Japan
| Rank | Model |
|------|--------------------|
| 1 | iPhone 16 |
| 2 | iPhone 16 Pro |
| 3 | iPhone 15 |
| 4 | iPhone 14 |
| 5 | Google Pixel 8a |
[2]: "iPhone 16 secures top-selling global smartphone model in competitive holiday period" — https://www.kantar.com/inspiration/technology/iphone-16-secu...
[3]: "iPhone rakes in 3 times the revenue of any rival" — https://www.cultofmac.com/news/iphone-rakes-in-3-times-the-r...
Nowadays Chromebooks offer more design competition for Apple, and even historically Linux distros have had more ideas for Apple to learn from than Microsoft.
That's clearly subjective. What you will accept from Apple is unacceptable to others as garbage, the same as you dismiss anything from Microsoft.
>Linux distros have had more ideas for Apple to learn from than Microsoft.
And yet Apple just copied Windows Vista with their "glass" monstrosity that is universally hated and has been lambasted widely. Again, you may love that, but that would put you in the minority.
I was deeply into Microsoft products for a while. I got my start coding an indie game for the Xbox, I spent years using Windows Phone and developing an app for the platform, I interned at Microsoft twice and then later worked there as a software engineer for a period.
While there I did my best to improve the product I worked on, and I went beyond what most engineers do when thinking about product quality. I would gently and politely email other product teams with bugs or minor product issues that I felt were low hanging fruit. On my own team I was often one of the stronger advocates for the user and for product quality, and sometimes I got pushback for it.
My opinion about Microsoft's product culture is not formed lightly.
I don't believe Apple is faultless, but I think they demonstrate far more awareness of how their product decisions accrue to a lasting brand. It's not just marketing spin, it's real actionable decisions over decades that accrue to brand perception.
> Apple has put out plenty of subpar experiences in the past, and there's no reason they wouldn't do it in the future.
Come on—that was 16 years ago! Y'all gotta let some things go after a while.
I could go on, and on...