Droid vs. iPhone, what's in a number?

OK. So the news hit the streets that the infamous iPhone upstart, Android, has now gained 28% of the US market share, quickly shooting past iPhone in less than a year. Apple cries foul! You are giving away your phones! Market watchers agree, saying that this is not a true sales indicator.

Well, duh. But so what. Marketing 101 people. It's not a question of how many phones using the OS are purchased, those are simply one time sales numbers. It's about how many people are using it. So if you give one phone away for every one purchased, twice as many people will be using it. For 2 years at a pop.  And that will generate significant future sales through upgrades. Not of the OS, which is free, but the phone itself.

Apple could give away iPhones if they wanted to, but they didn't, and they won't. For Apple it's about the integrity of their price points. It's worked for them so far. Better product, quality rules, and so forth.

But then along came Android. And a two for one sale. And so more people will use the Droidster, as I like to call him. Or Ms. Droid, when she's really kicking ass.

Here's the thing with Apple. They have really big egos and sometimes lose sight of the competition. My daughter bought herself a MacBook Pro for graduation with her hard earned prize money (otherwise known as gifts.) She also acquired a wonderful iTouch to go with it, free after rebate. Now had they given her an iPhone instead, she would have signed up with AT&T for 2 years. Lots of MacPro sales out there....lots of rebate opportunities. But Apple couldn't see the forest for the trees.

The thing is, with Droid you've got a great phone and a great OS. Droid Does. and does....and does. Like the energizer bunny, except of course the battery likes to run low. Then again, you can charge the thing almost anywhere, so it doesn't really matter. Blackberry (RIMM) has been giving themselves away for awhile too, and thus they've got 36% of the market. Give more get more. Get with the program Apple.

The point is, Droid kicks ass because it's open to all. The apps just keep on coming. It's a google based product so yeah, it's got all the bells and whistles. Apple had a great idea, they rule on innovation, but they held on to it like the family lasagna recipe. Unfortunately, with so many cooks out there, someone was bound to improve on it without ever knowing the secret.

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