nkedel

At least 3 of the 4 major US carriers have moved to "BYOD" being an option on postpaid plans (and the only option on directly-sold postpaid plans in the case of T-Mobile.)

ScottC

It appears that some people in this thread forgot that Apple also operates outside the US. Good luck telling people in developing markets that they NEED to upgrade every two years.

wco81

iPhones are priced for the high end of developing markets like China, where there are contracts.

I don't think they're trying very hard in places like India where the ASP of phones sold is very low.

nkedel

There's still a secondary market in used "obsolete" iPhones in some developing markets; I was in Bangkok earlier this year and saw ones as old as the 3G on sale at MBK.

joshwex90

If I'm on T-Mobile, then by not getting a new phone, my plan stays cheaper. If I'm on VZW, then by not getting a new phone, I'm still saving the $200 for that upgrade.

^

SRQ Guy

All true, but only a tiny fraction are on T-Mobile and on Verizon you're still paying ~$600 or more for an $800 phone every two years, whether you upgrade or not.

joshwex90

Even so, that's still $200 more that I should be the one to decide whether or not I want to pay. Not someone else to say, "you *basically must* upgrade every 2 years."

nkedel

A much larger fraction are on AT&T than on T-Mobile.

...and even Verizon will now give a discount for BYOD (although it's much smaller than AT&T or the effective discount on T-Mobile.)

skofarrell

You're throwing around marketshare again like it matters... What matters is who is influencing/leading design and who's making money. Apple has both locked up.

Lets look at Profits: Do you want 80% of a $1 or 20% of a billion dollars? Apple and Samsung are making all the money on handsets for a reason. Their top end phones are catering to the people that spend money on phones.

Lets look at design: Do you want a fingerprint scanner that consistently works on one that consistently doesn't?

skofarrell

I'm failing to follow this logic. Apple is being almost Android-like in this regard. The iPhone 4 isn't going to blow up, melt or catch fire when iOS8 comes out. It, like all the millions of pre jelly bean android phones out there will continue to work. Just wth iOS7...

(And BTW, my 3GS is still trucking away. It can still makes calls, and surf the web....)

skofarrell

Why doesn't anyone complain about Mercedes', BMW's or Jaguar's lack of commitment to the emerging markets?

nkedel

Nobody is claiming that any of those brands are the best-selling cars in the world, and they all run the same gas (or diesel) that your Proton or Tata or Geely uses at the bottom of the market.

There'll always be higher and lower end phones, but Apple has the burden of its own ecosystem and if it can't keep the installed base large enough to bring in developers, it will fall behind (as the Mac did for years.)

skofarrell

Yes, and all phones run on electricity. If we're going to continue use the car market as an analogue: Each car maker has to support their own ecosystem (dealers, service, parts, accessories, etc). Chevy parts don't fit on Fords.

The difference in the mobile market is that the high end of the mobile market has the resources to pay for other things: Broadband plans...apps...accessories. iPhone users aren't using their "smart" (android phone) as a feature phone. There's a reason most app vendors come out with iOS apps first, despite the meaningless marketshare numbers. Follow the money...

and BTW, the only place the Mac market lagged was Microsoft Office.

joshwex90

Not true. Macs continue to lag when it comes to any language not typed left to right. (Try dealing with anything in Hebrew of Arabic on a Mac.) And remember that these languages constitute no small percentage of the world, including the developed world.

nkedel

*ROFLOL*

Office was one of the few things always available on Mac, thanks in part to Microsoft's "Oh shoot, if Apple goes under we're REALLY in trouble for anti-trust-lawsuits" investment and agreement to continue Office for Mac development back in 1997.

They also had all things Adobe for a long time, often ahead of the PC, because Adobe was traditionally a Mac-first shop.

But for video games, they're still long behind the PC with only a handful of titles and publishers coming out for both Day One.

Lots of specialty software still doesn't come to the Mac even now, although it's a lot better than it was from say, 1997-2004.

Comparing the Mac versions of stuff that did get ported in that period, like say, Quicken, was pretty awful for a while.