First off, like many Android fans, you insist on comparing an operating system to a single phone. It would be a shock if a free OS on multiple phones didn't outsell a single phone. However, the word "outsell" is a weird one, because Android doesn't cost anything, so it's not Android that's outselling anything--it's the total sum of the multiple phones that just happen to run Android compared to the one phone that runs iOS. Almost all of Android's market share gains came at RIM's expense, not Apple's.
Android is not a serious competitor for Apple because it's not making Google money. It has a negligible app presence and a fragmentation problem. iOS is still what guides the industry, it's what people talk about, it's what Android is copying (Android was going to look totally different before the iPhone came out in 2007), and it's where the developers are.
It took an operating system with no price tag and the promise of total control for the carriers to outsell a single phone. That's a big deal. Even then, not one single Android handset outsells the iPhone on its own, and the iPad still has no legitimate competitors.
More importantly, Apple make huge profits on iOS devices. It has the developers, and it gets the press attention. Android makes no money for Google, barely has developers, and is known as the geeky platform for cross-armed OSS evangelists who hate Apple. It's also experiencing a non-trivial rise in malware--two negative articles came out today in major news outlets. Sorry, but Android is not a serious competitor for Apple.
The post above is exactly why I left Hacker News. The level of discourse here has descending to the prattle that you read in the Engadget comments. Yes, everyone here has read all of the talking points (boring, boring, really old talking points). Many phones versus a few. Many makers. Profit margin.
Android is not a serious competitor for Apple because it's not making Google money. It has a negligible app presence and a fragmentation problem. iOS is still what guides the industry, it's what people talk about, it's what Android is copying (Android was going to look totally different before the iPhone came out in 2007), and it's where the developers are.
It took an operating system with no price tag and the promise of total control for the carriers to outsell a single phone. That's a big deal. Even then, not one single Android handset outsells the iPhone on its own, and the iPad still has no legitimate competitors.
More importantly, Apple make huge profits on iOS devices. It has the developers, and it gets the press attention. Android makes no money for Google, barely has developers, and is known as the geeky platform for cross-armed OSS evangelists who hate Apple. It's also experiencing a non-trivial rise in malware--two negative articles came out today in major news outlets. Sorry, but Android is not a serious competitor for Apple.