It seems the mobile phone market has been in an ongoing battle between two titans for the past decade or so. We are speaking, of course, of the competition between iOS and Android. While some phone manufacturers such as Huawei, Nokia, and even Microsoft have tried to bring their own contenders into the ring, none have ever managed to get more than 1% of the market share when facing competitors such as the little green robot and the half-bitten apple.
For the most part, the worldwide situation sees Android in the lead against iOS, but if we look a little bit closer, at specific countries and regions, the situation is not the same everywhere. According to Statcounter, Android holds over 70% of the global market share while iOS scores around 27%. Should we look towards the US, however, we’ll see that iOS leads with a 59% share as opposed to Android’s 41%.
Japan is another case where the macro view does not match the micro one. The Japanese audience has proven its love for the Apple operating system, with iOS holding over 65% of the market share, which is an even higher percentage than the company holds in its home country, the United States.
While there are certain unique aspects to iOS’s dominance in Japan, there are no cryptic or unexpected explanations for why Android has a larger market share. Let’s examine what they are.
Android Has Better Pricing
Android’s inexpensiveness is what has propelled it to market dominance. People’s discretionary income is far lower outside of the United States, despite the fact that several of the nations which favor Android have much larger populations. This means that while looking for a phone, people from the planet’s most populous regions consider price first. Apple’s not on par with Google in that respect.
A quick search will show that a brand new and relatively up-to-date Android phone can cost less than $160 while the cheapest iPhone you can get right now will set you back $420.
Considering Asia’s vast population and the fact that more than 320 million people in Asia live in severe poverty, it’s possible that Asia is the single most important element in Android’s command of the worldwide market. For comparison, the United States population in 2019 was estimated at 328 million.
Apple Has Better Branding
When it comes to its goods, Apple is in complete control as a brand. Apple handles everything in-house, whereas Android devices are a joint effort between Google and original equipment manufacturers. That’s why Apple has such a firm grasp on quality assurance, and why their products are generally reliable from top to bottom.
Apple products are seldom the subject of negative feedback. Apple’s integration of hardware and software is unmatched. This uniformity is not shared by even Google Pixel smartphones. Google develops the software, while other companies work together to manufacture the device.
Many people have more faith in Apple than they do in Google. This confidence extends well beyond the realm of mobile devices to the realm of data and the uses made of that data, Apple famously refused to give up their user’s private information. Apple’s brand is also more attractive and sophisticated than Google’s. Think about the iPhone and Android advertisements that have aired recently. Apple’s advertisements always manage to capture the cool vibe that customers want.
Android Has More Variety
The fact that more and more smartphone and gadget makers choose Android as their OS is a major factor in the platform’s meteoric rise in popularity. Instead, iOS only works on gadgets developed by Apple.
The Open Handset Alliance (OHA), founded by Google and many mobile carriers, software developers, and hardware companies in 2007, is largely responsible for Android’s widespread popularity among manufacturers. By releasing Android as open source to device makers, this group made it the dominant mobile platform.
As a result of this partnership, most phone makers preferred to transition to Android when competing for older feature phone operating systems were discontinued. This resulted in a substantial rise in Android’s total market share, and it’s the reason why the operating system can now be found on phones made by Google, Samsung, Oppo, OnePlus, Lenovo, and many others.
Apple Is More Recognizable
Pop culture has the globe in its grasp nowadays. For the easily influenced, seeing a celebrity with an iPhone may be enough to convince them to go out and get one for themselves. When it comes to media, Android phones are seldom featured. Nearly every time a notification or call comes in on a tv show or in a movie, it sounds like it’s coming from an Apple product.
As a result, it has a substantial influence on customers. The audience’s favorite programs and personalities are always under scrutiny by the watchers.
Conclusions
In the end, both iOS and Android are great operating systems for your phone. It just boils down to what the customer’s values are and that’s why the global market is so divided between these two. More economical buyers who prefer to change things up from time to time will most likely go with Android. However, those who prefer a completely streamlined and extremely polished experience will probably choose an iPhone because of the premium quality it offers.
