Apple Quarter and Few Other Items in Smartphone Wars

So Apple gave its results for calendar quarter 3 ie July-September. They sold 46.7 million iPhones, which is up 14% vs previous quarter but this is the normal pattern with the strong swings in Apple annual sales cycle. Last year this time they were up 13% Quarter-on-Quarter so it's very similar performance on the quarter when first new iPhones are released. Year-on-Year is the more meaningful comparison in Apple Quarters and that business is up 3% which is also the rate that the industry is currently growing. Apple's market share currently (preliminary) is 12.9% and they are on pace for an annual market share of about 14.5% which would be flat vs last year. Flat market share would allow for that about 3% unit growth Year-on-Year. Apple made as per usual a huge ton of money. Some analysts were a bit disappointed that the average sales price wasn't quite as astronomical as they had hoped but they still make more money than god. Ho-hum. Nothing to see here. What else is going on?

Samsung said they had monster quarter but didn't give their numbers of units of smartphones sold. Sony once again lowered their annual sales target now to 14.5 million. LG made money elsewhere but not in mobile phones. Xiaomi had a great end to their quarter selling for the first time over 10 million units in one month and have climbed to second bestselling smartphone of India (behind Samsung). Pantech the third-largest South Korean phone manufacturer which recently went bust, was sold (again) as it is being split into parts. HMD's Nokia comeback looking strong, I have separate postings about that.

A few interesting handsets are around that work into a new direction for the stale race in form factors. Razer introduced a gaming-oriented super smartphone in top premium price range. Available in USA and Europe (at least) with some carrier support on both continents (runs on Android of course). Meanwhile ZTE introduced a folding-screen smartphone, the Axon. CAT has done a new release of its super-heavy-duty outdoor smartphone which includes the FLIR camera. And there is a Chinese phone maker, Koobee who are able to take 80 mp pictures (as software gimmicks on far more modest sensors).

Thats about the round-up for today. We'll see what info we get from the big analyst houses and if anyone mentions Nokia already in their surveys of the market. Then we'll wait also for the few other smartphone makers to give what little info they do give us, and I'll do the Q3 results of course.

Comments

[Tester]

This common problem is why using apps to do supposedly secure things like banking is like playing with fire. How secure these apps are solely depends on the developer's awareness - and that often does not exist. Those in charge of security do not understand apps and those in charge of development do not understand security.

Even on mobile I only use the web browser to do banking - those things are more severely stress tested than any app can ever be.

[Per "wertigon" Ekström]

@Tester, it depends on the country.

In my country we have a common authentication app (BankID), and this app is hardened for security. This means all banking systems use this one app to authorization and authentication, which means the security part is already pretty much solved. Every transaction you do require your authorization with this app. It is pretty much a digital ID card.

Of course this does not protect against phishing, or the threat of violence ("Punch in your ID or I break your fingers!") but it is still reasonably safe.

[E.Casais]

@PWE

As the fiasco with ROCA has shown, one should be wary of stating that "the security part is already pretty much solved"...

[Tester]

I personally won't trust any code that isn't put up for public review when it comes to security.
App developers rarely come into contact with true security-minded programming so I'd never take the publisher's word for it.

Having one app to cover the entire system can both be a good and a bad thing. If the app is indeed secure, it'd be to everybody's benefit. On the other hand, if such an app is found to be vulerable it'd be the equivalent of a nuclear catastrophe.

Oh, one more thing: Security will never be solved. There will always be problems, so the most important thing is that such software gets regularly updated. I'd be very careful to use banking software that doesn't have a reliable update schedule.
Of course, with apps there's another problem: Even if a security update gets made, it cannot be made available in the app stores right away, because Apple and Google first want to make sure it follows their idiotic rules.

[Winter]

@Tester
"This common problem is why using apps to do supposedly secure things like banking is like playing with fire."

The idea is to lay the risks a the feet of those responsible for the security. I do not care about the security of a banking app, as long as the bank is the one that has to pay up when they get it wrong.

We are not the USA and have few problems with credit ratings, and do not use our CC much, so, if the bank makes an error, they will pay and we sit back.

[Asko]

Samsung is bringing some true innovation to the field:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2017/11/09/samsung-new-galaxy-smartphone-galaxy-a5-galaxy-s9/#6e224d5752c7

[Per "wertigon" Ekström]

https://www.wired.com/story/hackers-say-broke-face-id-security/

And as we all knew, it was inevitable

[sve]

Wechat has 55M messages/day versys SMS at 38B messages/day https://www.techinasia.com/wechat-users-send-38-billion-messages-day

[Jim Glue]

Hi Sve...

The story says WeChat has 38B messages per day verses WhatsApp's 55B messages. SMS wasn't mentioned.

3 years ago Apple reported they were at 40B iMessages per day and 15M facetime calls.

That 40B in 2014 is up from 2B reported in 2013.

I wonder how App based messaging in total is comparing to SMS these days

[Jim Glue]

Android Central reviews the iPhone: https://www.androidcentral.com/iphone-x

One of the best reviews I've seen from someone who prefers Android. Pay particular note to his opinion of the current state of apps for iOS vs. Android.

[Phil W]

Thanks Jim, read it. Good Review. Fairly unbiased I would say, noting the good and the not so good.

[Abdul Muis]

https://pages.nokia.com/18259.threat.intelligence.report.lp.html
(put your name/email, click submit)

Nokia praises Google’s efforts with Google Play Protect and says that Play Store’s defenses are much better than they were two years ago. However, third-party app stores are less protected and are a common vector of infection. The biggest threat are trojanized apps – once that pose as popular apps (say, Netflix) but contain malicious code (those usually come from the other app stores).

According to Nokia, the Uapush adware is the most popular malicious app, the Jisun ransomware came in second and the Marcher banking trojan in third. The average infection rate was 0.68%.

iOS is under attack as well, mostly by Spyphone apps, though with basically no third-party app stores the infections were less common. Older versions of iOS have unpatched vulnerabilities, however.

[Per "wertigon" Ekström]

@Jim:

Yes, the iPhone X is a nice phone.

No, it's not so nice I'd pay three to four times the money for what I currently own and am happy with.

Incidentally, if you ever need a good Android phone with long battery life, get the Lenovo P2, it's awesome. :)

[Abdul Muis]

@PWE

The Lenovo P2 with 5000mAH battery is great, but unfortunately, use 'old' CPU (28nm). Right now, my favorite is Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom. It has 5000mAH battery, but the CPU is build on newer 14nm, so it's battery life is super long.

[Robin Sparkles]

"macworld.com/article/3237145/android/iphone-x-vs-androids-best.html"

Macworld? warning! iSheep detected.

[E.Casais]

"I can confidently say that none are in the same league as Apple’s newest handset."

It is true. The prices alone tell the story. In CHF:

Note 8
64 GB 919 - 999.85
128 GB 1039 - 1049
256 GB 1149

iPhone X
64 GB 1169
256 GB 1339

The lowest end iPhone X is more expensive than the highest end Note 8. Samsung top device is one full class below the iPhone X -- hence comparing them is interesting, but only teaches us as much as comparing the Note 8 to the Nokia 8, for instance.

Samsung and others may respond in 2018 by also entering the new super-premium device category, but I do not consider the flight to new heights of unaffordability to be a good sign for the industry.

[Jim Glue]

Hi GoodTimes...welcome to the forum.

I think Per has a great point. Price matters. I buy Sonatas as my family car...price is a huge reason. I can recognize that a Mercedes or BMW is a nicer car. It never enters my mind to buy one...even if I could.

You can find similar stories to the ones you posted that come to the opposite conclusion. People value different things, and optimize for value in different ways.

Most of my disagreements here have nothing to do with anyone else's preference for Android phones. It's that some folks seem unable to recognize that Apple's success is sustainable because there really does exist a sizable market of people ready, willing and able to pay more for nicer things. And just as I respect that some people value Android's strengths more....apparently some have difficulty accepting other people have a different set of what is important to them.

I absolutely love my Kindle Fire tablets. I've bought somewhere around ten of them...3 or 4 for myself and the rest as gifts. The price is right for a well defined set of "what I use the Kindle Fire tablets for". They haven't replace my love for my iPads...but I can't afford to give out iPads as gifts...nor can I buy a new iPad every year or every time there's an upgrade like I do with Kindle Fire tablets.

Same for Fire Tv Stick over an Apple Tv.

When there exists a truly "good enough" Android alternative at 1/10th the price...I too will buy it.

My daily driver phone is just too important of a tool to me and therefore I still pay the top dollar every few years for a new iPhone. If THIS year had been my schedule to get a new one...I probably would have gone for the 8+. The iPhone X is just that bit too much extra for me. Apple already got the extra $200 from me over a regular iPhone when they came out with large phone ($100 more) and made the memory upgrade to the next level a must have (another $100).

Now my Apple AirPods currently have no competition (in MY humble opinion for MY use cases)...and neither does my AppleWatch (other than just not having a smart watch)

[Jim Glue]

Hi E,

Where are you getting your prices?

In the US, it's
64gb $999
256gb $1150

At Bestbuy (a large national electronics retailer) the Note 8 is
64gb $949

I'm not sure the 256gb is sold in the US. Couldn't find it at Best Buy, Verizon or Amazon.

Now it is true that Samsung Flagships don't hold their retail price much past opening weekend.

But just comparing the retail price, they are in line.

[E.Casais]

@Jim Glue

As I wrote: the prices are in CHF, i.e. this is for Switzerland.

[E.Casais]

@Jim Glue

For your information: in Germany, the prices (rounded, EUR) are as follows:

iPhone X
64 GB 1149
256 GB 1319

You can manage to get slightly lower prices by importing from Poland (64 GB @ 1093) or from the UK (256 GB @ 1287).

Note 8
64 GB 785
128 GB 998
256 GB 1111

Same remark regarding imports apply.

In a poorer country like Portugal, the iPhone X goes for

64 GB 1170
256 GB 1353

and the Note 8 for
64 GB 850

Yes, prices are higher than in Germany, the VAT is also much higher.

In the UK (rounded, GBP):

iPhone X
64 GB 995
256 GB 1135

Note 8
64 GB 625

In Oceania? Let us check Australian prices (rounded, AUD):

iPhone X
64 GB 1578
256 GB 1828

Note 8
64 GB 985
128 GB 1072
256 GB 1195

In all cases, it appears that the iPhone X is one full price category above the Samsung Note 8; there is no overlap whatsoever.

I looked at unlocked devices, cheapest offer through various comprehensive local price search engines. If your figures are derived in a similar way, then it is the US market that is an oddity.