RIP Apple, so says respected German financial weekly, Wirtschafts Woche. “The better iPhone,” trumpets the periodical: “Four years Apple was supreme. Now Android mobiles are taking over the market. Soon, Google’s software will be in millions of cars, televisions and tablet computers. Android will be the Windows of the mobile era – and the internet-search company will be mighier than Microsoft ever was.”
Well, it’s one point of view. There is absolutely no doubt that Android will become the major mobile operating system but I think it is far too soon to write off Apple. Not all is rosy in the Android world despite or because of the volume; the very openness of the system is already leading to compatibility problems and unncessary customisation that has always been characteristic of the Windows world. Windows remains a pile ’em high and sell ’em cheap operation and Windows users suffer from the very ubiquity of the operating system. Apple, on the other hand, have never veered from their goal of maximum return.
Complain about overarching control as much as you like, but Apple offer a a pure system. You get your upgrades, you are always up to date, everything just works. And the after-sales service is second to none. That such advantages should come at a premium is no surprise. In the six years since I converted to Apple the company has moved from being a niche operator to become a serious threat to the Windows-dominated computer world at large. In the same time Apple have revolutionised the mobile world, first with the iPhone, then with the AppStore and most recenly with the iPad. Apple are not interested in world domination in numbers. They will content themselves with world domination in operating margins.
Technorati Tags: AppStore, iOS applications, iPad, iPhone, Android