iOS Gradually Losing Ground to Google’s Android

May 3, 2014 By Lee Ways

Apple Losing its Market Dominance at all Angles

As shown by different research companies in Q1 2014, Apple (AAPL) is gradually losing its target audience to rival firms that are using the Android platform,. The company shipped 43.7 million units of iPhone and16.4 million units of iPad during the first quarter. According to research firm IDC, iPhone and iPad both shed more market shares they held a year earlier.

Elsewhere, another research company, Opera Mediaworks, has revealed that iOS is no longer the leading platform in terms of the size of the audience. According to the data, the number Android users who interact with mobile ads outnumber their iOS counterparts.

iPhone Shipment Increase but Apple Sheds Market Share

iPhone saw double digit sales growth in Japan and multiple developing markets such China, Brazil, Indonesia and India. Though Apple’s Smartphone market share dropped to 15.5% in Q1 2014, it is the first time the company has shipped 43.7 million units in a quarter.

Apple trails Samsung Electronics Co. (005930), which is still enjoying the top spot, thanks to its competitive pricing and the increasing capacity of the Google Play app store. The latter now controls 30.2% of the market, down from the 31.7% it had a year earlier. However, this figure compares well with the last quarter’s 28.8%. During the Q1 2014 quarter, the company shipped 85 million Smartphone units, up from 69.7 million in Q1 2013.

Since both Apple and Samsung market share dropped, but their respective shipment increased, it is obvious that other industry players are eating into their market shares.

Samsung threatens Apple’s Tablet Market Dominance

While Apple is still the dominant brand in the tablet world, Samsung is working hard to dethrone it. The Q1 2014 results showed that iPad sales dropped to less than a third of all the tablets sold in that period. In Q1 2013, the company had more than 40 percent of the tablet market in its grip. Only Samsung made substantial gains in the global tablet market, rising from 17.5 percent a year earlier, to 22.3 percent in Q1 2014. This represents tablet shipments which rose from 8.5 millions to 11.2 million units. So while Apple’s CEO Tim Cook still believes iPad has a great future, the company needs to worry more about Samsung, which is literally poaching its customers.

Mobile Advertising

Apple is not just losing its tablet market; almost all its businesses are under pressure. Until recently, Apple’s iOS was the leading operating system for mobile advertisers since it delivered not only the quality and a glossier platform with deeper engagement, but also a large target audience. Of all these four primary factors, the Google’s Android platform is now at par with iOS on two and has surpassed it in one.

According to Opera Mediaworks data, the traffic that resulted from 64 billion ads supplied to 500 million Smartphone and tablet users, 42.83% are Android users and 38.17% are from iOS. This was previously 31.26% and 44.53% respectively. However, on monetization of these users, iOS still leading with 52.7%, up from the previous 49.23%; Android on the other hand stands at 33.46, up from the previous 26.72%.

Conclusion

Google’s Android platform is an open source used by numerous developers, but iOS is only available to Apple. The number of developers at Apple cannot outwit the thousands of developers working on the Android platform. This is why the Apple’s Smartphone and tablet mark has been gradually dropping down. While iOS is losing ground to Android, Apple still pockets the lion’s share of the revenues from advertisement, because it is going it alone as a technological giant in the Smartphone and tablet arena.

Google Inc and Samsung Sign a Patent Cross Licensing Agreement

January 30, 2014 By Silvia Johnson

Samsung and Google want a long term mutual business relationship without the legal wrangles. Both the organizations know they can be of great help to each other if no patent disputes come in between. This thought gives them enough reason to enter into a global patent cross licensing agreement which will protect their products and also help them make important technological deals.

The companies have recently made a formal announcement of the deal during a joint press release. The legal agreement gives both the companies a sense of respite and an opportunity to engage in an exchange of technical expertise without being involved in any type of legal complication.
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Apple’s Auto-Complete Text Patent Infringed By Samsung

January 22, 2014 By Silvia Johnson

Giant phone manufacturers Apple had taken one of their rivals Samsung to court alleging that there are a number of handsets that have infringed on its auto-complete patent. Apple managed to win the case when a judge ruled that Samsung had indeed infringed on the word recommendation technology that had been patented by Apple. Experts state that this ruling might also have an effect on other Android devices that may be offering the service. This judgment was made at a time when both companies are planning to claim that others have copied some of their features.
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Apple And Samsung Start A Mediation Session Over The Patent Dispute

January 9, 2014 By Alexandra

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung (OTCMKTS:SSNLF) have had a long legal battle over the past three years concerning a design pattern violation for some of the electronics, mainly the smartphones. Millions of dollars were spent on legal fees so far, and now Samsung and Apple have decided to try what is best for both manufacturers, and that is a mediation session.

The mediation session aims to help both parties reach a mutually beneficial decision and, according to a report issued by the international news agency Reuters, it is scheduled to start on the 19th of February, right before the lawsuit over the smartphone patent that will take place in March.

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Apple Seeks To Restrict Sales of US Samsung Electronics

December 29, 2013 By Alexandra

The series of ongoing lawsuits between Samsung Electronics Co (OTCMKTS:SSNLF), and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is not a secret to anybody. The lawsuits surround the design of tablets and smartphones – Apple sued Samsung Electronics for patent infringement two years ago, thus giving birth to what is known as the “Smartphone patent war”, an ongoing battle where Apple hopes to prevent Samsung from selling electronics which are said to copy features and design elements of their products.

The legal disputes between the two electronics manufacturers has spread across ten countries, holding no less than 50 lawsuits all around the world. Apple did win a ruling in its favor back in the United States, but earlier this year Samsung won a partial ban on the sales of some Apple products, after the court has decided that Apple Inc. has violated one of Samsung’s patents. At the time being, Apple is again seeking to restrict sales of US Samsung electronics in the United States.