Why is Apple Still a Leading Brand?

[Halucinator]

Hello and welcome guys! This is a my third tak and I'm wuite excited! I am clearly stating that I am not an Apple fan.

1) Status Symbol/Confidence booster

Call apple an expensive shit or waste of money but the people who love pomp and show generally choose it over other brands. Because not everyone could afford the latest Iphone. You might find this silly but Many people would think twice and check their budget whether they could buy the Iphone 8, 8 plus or X. So it pretty much symbolises your status and you can't deny that apple has some unique chutzpah in it!

3) No solid reason to dump apple

Okay, so this is mainly for the people who will disagree with me. What will you write against apple? It's expensive? C'mon just agred to it that Apple targets mainly rich segment. Now what? Low Ram? Believe it or not but even an year old 5s would work smoother than a new Oppo/Vivo which comes with 2GB RAM. Now what? Inexpandable memory? Buy a 256 GB variant and use more than 100 GB of cloud spaces too. Restrictions? Yeah that's the point I could agree for a while but it's consumers buy Iphone because it's Iphone. Moreover, the person who needs to use it just for basic purposes doesn't care of those things.

3) Quality

Apple charges such high amount but it's quality is likewise too. It won't hang easily, won't explode as of Samsung Note 7😂 Apple's a trusted brand. You can compare a even a Macbook with others. It's more reliable than it's other competitors.

4) Experience

The key to Apple's success doesn't lie in the features but in the experience it provides. Haters will say that other brands provide the same features at such low costs but they can't match the experience which Apple gives you. Weren't the wireless charging and face scanner available before Iphone X? but only a few people used it. It will become common as heck after it will launch just wait. Every other person will have a phone with wireless charging. Its photo effects and camera quality is damn amazing. The face scanner of Iphone X is so accurate that it could even scan your face in the dark. It has the toughest glass ever used in a smartfone, fastest processor ever used in a smartfone.

At last I'd say No matter what, haters gonna hate it.

Thanks for reading!

Hope you liked it!!

[Frosteh]

They're a fashion statement, they keep the price of their kit artificially high which makes it a status symbol, so people get into huge 24 month contracts to pay off the phone. Most of that is powered by marketing and putting form/design over function.

[frozenhorizon]

Man the samsung S8 is $725 and they offer 24 month financing as well. How is that any different? It's not just Apple.

[Jonny317]

Note 9 is the same price as the iPhone X (as well as two more Android phones), and the S9, Iphone 8 and Pixel 2 were all comparably priced, so you can't keep playing that tired song. The overall experience is the reason people stay with Apple.

[MrOracle]

Five main reasons:

1. Apple's quality is consistently high - even if it is at the expense of features or capabilities. The stuff that IS there tends to work and work pretty reliably.

2. They're relatively simple. Apple controls the entire experience, from hardware, to OS, to apps, and they intentionally hide away anything they consider to be "too complicated for the average person" - often limiting the ability to do things or to configure things a certain way, but at the same time making it simpler for most people, and thus, for them, more reliable.

3. Image. Apple has some of the very best marketing in the world, which was setup and overseen by Steve Jobs, a widely acknowledged marketing genius. Jobs understood the importance of making Apple a marquee, aspirational brand, and EVERYTHING revolved around that.

4. Service. Again, Apple controls the entire experience, and builds in enough profit to cover the costs of excellent customer service (at least, for a limited amount of time) - and has programs designed to get people to pay for longer-term service. Apple Stores are absolutely key to Apple's success.

5. Always targeting the TOP of the market, never the bottom. Apple builds devices for the well-off, or at least the people willing to pay to fake it. Their stuff is expensive, and they make no apologies for it. When stuff breaks out of warranty, it's expensive to fix or you're encouraged to buy a new one rather than fixing the old one - all of which adds to Apple's bottom line. But when you target the top of the market - people with plenty of discretionary money to spend - you can get away with this.

I personally hate Apple stuff for ME - it goes against everything that matters to me, such as open standards and ME being in control rather than Apple - but I totally get why Apple is at the top of the market. They understand their customers incredibly well, and target them expertly, and support them well, and make them feel special - even though they really aren't. LOL.

[Hannah591]

Apples WAS innovative in the beginning, but they have lost their way and now follow android phones and add a little function to make them slightly different (whilst removing something from the hardware of course), but slap a huge price on it.

It is a case of brand loyalty and people don't like change or to be shown they're wrong. The more people tell Apple consumers that they're stupid for buying from them, the more they're going to go against them, rather than accept they may be a little naive for buying their stuff anymore.

iPhones have possibly the worst battery life. I do not know a single person with an iPhone that does not have their phone charger with them. In college, the iPhone users were connected to a wall in every lesson - but people just get used to it. If you get a Windows Phone, you realise what you have been completely deprived of and if Nokia can make a smartphone last for days on end, why can't Apple and Samsung catch up? When I got my Samsung, the battery didn't last longer than my Nokia, but it still lasts me more than a day even when I use it quite a lot, whilst an iPhone lasts for around two hours!

They also smash after one fall. Again, very few people with iPhones have one that DOESN'T have a smashed screen. I've dropped my Samsung a couple of times on solid surfaces and despite being almost entirely made of glass, it hasn't smashed or cracked. My Nokia fell from waist height and then fell down a full set of wooden stairs and it had not one crack on the screen. You do that with an iPhone and it's bye bye.

Hopefully now, with an increasing negative press and their ridiculously high price tags on hardware that was already made years previously, as well as forcing people to buy gadgets just to have a simple function that other phones have (earpods), less people will buy from Apple. Unfortunately, there will be the brain washed few who will continue buying from them because they refuse to try something new and realise there's better out there for much less!
The same thing may also happen with RyanAir after what happened recently.

Apple is "leading" purely because of the brainwashed, stubborn people who don't like change.

[Himig_Ng_Pag-ibig]

Worldwide it is not the leading brand but it is in the USA (and some other countries)
There are quite inconsistency in this MyTake.. First this pie chart
cf.girlsaskguys.com/.../...6-b8c6-5e943b59b097.jpg
This pie chart is outdated, it is from 2015. Also the chart is actually showing iphone to be the second in the market-share. Samsung is leading globally

From the source IDC
www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS42935817
In the 2nd quarter of 2017 Samsung still leads and Apple is still second. However both Apple and Samsung just grew slightly in 1 year difference
https://i.imgur.com/Zxnvgii.png
As seen the market share in 2Q 2017, Samsung is 23% while apple is 12%.. From 2015 apple was at 10.1% share and Samsung at 20.9% share. Apple grew slower.. Meanwhile from what we can take from the data is the Chinese brand grew far bigger, 58.9% increase in just one year. If that trend continues then apple and Samsung could be overtaken in the future.. Speaking of that, recent news. Huawei overtook Apple in the marketshare to be the second.
www.telegraph.co.uk/.../
Just as what the number is saying.

Even from the report on your last screenshot, which came from Gartner
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3609817
Apple bested Samsung in 4th quarter of 2016 (due to exploding note 7 recall)
https://i.imgur.com/dn2OyEw.png
But all year round Samsung still has the largest market.
https://i.imgur.com/U8bYkQH.png

Also some the majority of oppo/vivo phones doesn't come with 2GB ram. Check the lists
http://www.gsmarena.com/
The most base phone is 3gb.. The ones with 2gb ram are the older low tier ones. The cheapest of their line. However apple has 3gb ram but it's fine because the iphone is well optimised and has great chip, so it doesn't require much ram.

Also FaceID being able to scan your face in the dark isn't new. Note 8's facial recognition already have that. Jump at 3:40 to see the demo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VkQK1MSiIo

[oddwaffle]

Half of apple brand is all about being trendy and because don't know how to use better products. It's like how everyone uses internet explorer unless you know better and jump to Firefox or Chrome.

What I really hate about apple is it's incompatibility with other products. Google map and Chrome for instance.

The only thing I would put value in Apple product is the battery. This is where their engineering shines as it takes the whole design into a single chain to keep the battery alive for average use. Everyone else but Apple failed at this point.

Most of the other features are not that useful. Sure it sounds cool but you don't actually need those. Facial recognition isn't new. I got one on my laptop and didn't like it.

It boils down to what you use the product for and what features you need. I prefer Google products so I always aim for pixel or Nexus which people don't really know because Samsung got more ads. My uncle likes the CAT phone because he uses the infrared camera for his work. My dad likes his $100 phone because he keeps dropping the phone.

[JudgmentDay]

Once something becomes so popular or overpopular and have established a huge following and community, then it's hard for it to become topped by any other competitor. I'm not a fan or user of their products either, don't own any as of now, but I do check them out occasionally at a local Apple Store.

There's always a part of me that kinda wished they would consider going into the gaming market and make specialized gaming macs or maybe something like Apple's own version of a gaming console to compete with Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. That's about the only thing that held me back from spending money on Apple products as we all know they aren't cheap or budget atm. So until that day, if and when it ever happens, either an Apple game console streamer hybrid of some kind is announced, or maybe Macs that will eventually have full support for Oculus Rift and various Virtual Reality applications with something like Nvidia geForce GTX 1060 graphic processors in them, as GTX 1060 is the minimum for VR support, then I might actually and finally get one.

[0112358]

I think Samsung probably makes better phones. That said when I upgrade early next year I will get apple again.

Why? It's user experience and network of contacts.

When apple users say they like the user experience they do not mean new features. New features are entertaining gimmicks. For the most part people don't care or they wouldn't be using apple. When they say experience they mean the unit did what they wanted out of the box. Period. They didn't have to replace the keyboard with a better keyboard. They didn't have to configure anything. They didn't have to make a major decision on when to upgrade operating system. It just works.

The other factor is being embedded with apple. My wife has an iPhone. My daughter had my old iPhone. My other kids use iPods. My parents use iPhones/iPads. My inlaws use iPhones or iPads. Everyone I know uses iMessage. I set up a car pool with a bunch of other parents recently - when I started texting everyone turned out to be on apple. None of them suggested kik or whatever because they're all on group iMessage. It's not for status. None of these people care. They're minivan driving middle age suburbanites (or in some cases 70 year olds).

Basically all people where the actual cost difference between an android phone with subsidy vs apple phone with subsidies over a few years is negligible. So they picked on ease of use originally and familiarity going forward.

[Anonymous]

Apple rules, Samsung drools :P

-- No Shi* I love my apple for many reasons.

1. My first smartphone was a Samsung Galaxy Note 1 (i717 since I think there was two if I am not mistaken?). Fast forward I love games and games are heavy on batteries (No Matter WHAT phone you have) Within less than a year (still on contract) My phone battery died from all the overheating and I didn't realize that at the time I thought it was the phone plus it overheating was always hard on the hands). Finishing off this statement my iPhone does get a little "warm" but I have a case (OtterBox Defender) which the heat doesn't really go through.

2. Most phones unlike Apple only have 1 size which is usually huge, however apple has many releases now with the iPhone 8 starting at 4.7". Again referring back to my Note phone was 5.3". Most pockets are rather small and the phone ends up, guess where? On the floor! possibility smashed if you don't have a proper case (lol)

---- Why I will ALWAYS choose Apple over any Android based phone
I don't care if they are behind in technology in comparison, but I will NOT be buying a new phone every year that they release them.

[Unit1]

1) This is a fake status symbol (which proves nothing but ownership of such a model) and a fake confidence booster at most.

2) You skipped that number

3) I don't understand your point and argument

3 (4)) A quick google search for "my iphone stopped working" or "my iphone lags" will effectively counter this argument.

4 (5)) I can think of a bunch of models, that have had features prior to apple's releases. For example my lumia 950 xl has an excellent camera (if not even better), bigger screen resolution and an iris scanner compared to the iphone 7. Now the iphone X catched up on some of these. The other manufacturers will likely compete with that.
Just recently with the iphone X release it topped the smartphone business. Competitions should follow.

There. I effectively countered the arguments. I'm not an Apple fan myself but I gave mostly facts.

[Halucinator]

lol true whatever you said is correct
but
1) it is still a status symbol
2) You can't deny that 'experience' thing
I personally used to hate the iphone until I started using one. My dad's a huge apple fan and it used to intimidate me quite often but Idrc

[Unit1]

I don't know what kind of status it supposedly is but to me there isn't any status symbol other than being an owner of an iphone.

I don't know what you mean with denying experience thing. I told you about the experience I have and it is better than what was provided in the tech-specs of an iphone7.

[Halucinator]

I already said that providing specs isn't the power of Iphone, it's power is that it modifies those features to enhance your experience

[Unit1]

Okay. In this case I'm also satisfied with those modified features to enhance my experiences with my current smartphone. I wouldn't know what could make it better.
But since I never had an Iphone I can't compare them both. I don't plan on buying an apple product ever.

[doodleheads]

all my family members uses samsung and my older sister sent me this picture the other day to try to get me to switch over. i used to use android phones up until iphone 4 came out. with android phones i was so sick and tired of the SD cards always crapping out after a while and i always lose my files and photos, sd cards weren't cheap back then either for a decent amount of GBs and also the side of usb that connects to the phone always bends. i never have to deal with those 2 problems when i got iphone, so i stick to using iphones. otherwise yeah i'll be using android phones because of the more advanced features.

[stawrman]

Apple is not a fashion statement or a class apart. It Is just convenience over creativity.
In an Android phone I can modify and tweak almost everything, in an iPhone, they maintain that simplicity. That's why, in time an Android may freeze, wear out, become slow, but apple stays sturdy because it doesn't offer much in the first place.
Basically, if you want a phone to call, text and shoot hot pictures, go for the iPhone.
iPhone may display some sophistication when it comes to status but at least in my country every 3rd person owns one.
I want creativity and no limitations, Android it is.

[Gypsy_x]

Apple products are too expensive, it isn't reasonable pricing. I use a Samsung galaxy, and while its good, I still think its overpriced.

Brands lile Huawei and LG offer similar features at a way lower cost. That being said, I dont use my phone for anything fancy.

[Halucinator]

I already said that apple's strength isn't about specs, instead it's quite bad at it. It's power is to enhance the experience of pre- existing specs

[Heartcrusher]

I have an apple phone and it can hold charge no can it connect to internet well. It's sad that my old phone was better. I personally never had a sansung before. It's probably only more popular because apple is American made and Sansung is foreign. But please choose what best fit you instead of what's popular

[Halucinator]

that's true

[Prof_Don]

Here's the thing; top-tier Android phones (such as the Samsung Galaxy S line of phones), are equal to Apple when it comes to quality of build, internal specs, and maintaining their resale value.

In fact it can be argued that top Android phones have more advanced tech than Apple does.

----

The real secret to Apple, is the marketing of their brand being elite.

Which is funny, because most people get their top-level phone on credit anyway. I go to Rent-A-Center or Aaron's and get an iPhone if I wanted and pay $0 and walk out with it. 😂

[RedThread]

I'd rather not buy a product for the name. Should I buy a premade PC through Dell or piece out my own parts individually and not cut corners? I choose the latter. Unfortunately we can't do that for smartphones so instead I'll go for top quality specs for the best competitive price and usually that's not Apple. I'm not one to throw out hundreds of extra dollars for a brand (I don't even wear brand name clothes) lol

I also don't like the apple bubble that you get forced into with apple products. I'd rather have a product that's most compatible with other things in the market rather than having to retrofit all my synced devices with the apple brand versions. I just prefer freedom I suppose.

[Anonymous]

Because there are more dumb people in the world, Apple is literally ripping their asses these fuckers can't even understand that. I even see some College chicks this day get Mac Books which lacks Touchscreen, Pen less battery, fewer apps no Multi desktop. Some dumb People don't know that 2017 IPHONEx Resolution is lesser than 950XL.

The Microsoft Lumia 950/XL from 2015 - yes 2 years ago, has a higher resolution OLED screen than the iPhone X, a higher PPI, a brighter screen than the iPhone X, more accurate colours than the iPhone X... it also had 3D facial unlock...

Apple is finally putting in wireless charging, that the Windows phones have had for years.

[Halucinator]

Yup Iphone has recently started full hd screen😂

[MarkRet]

We've always liked Apple. Their products work well, and they've always provide great service. We used to have a Hewlett-Packard PC, and the damn thing couldn't even shut down without locking up. With an Apple laptop, we could load in a CD (laptops don't have CD slots anymore), and it knew automatically who the artist was, song names, even the album art. With a Microsoft machine, we had to MANUALLY type that information in.

We always liked the iPhones too, but we don't really care about getting the newest model, so we just hang onto our old iPhones for a while.

[Silver158]

Had both an Iphone (5c at the time) and a Macbook Air. And tbh wasn't keen on either.

Got the Iphone because I'd just broken my Galaxy S3's screen and they were offering a load of cashback for the Iphone (wonder why...). I'd spent years slating them without actually owning one and everything I thought was wrong with them turned out to be accurate. Locked into Apple store apps, no customisation whatsoever, crappy notification system and horrendous battery life (be dying by lunch).

As for the Macbook. Don't like the OS personally but the build quality was excellent, screen was a bit crap and I can't fault the battery life (the reason why I got it).

[BaileyisDarcy]

Apple is shit. Thats all there is to it and if you like apple products its because you're incredibly gullible and have fallen for the apple scheme.

[Halucinator]

lmao I didn't say that I love em I just wanted to go through why is it still a leader

[AlphaGhost]

Lol wait a minute Android market share is above 89% and near 90% inthe world right now then How did even get above 20% manufacturing ranking?

If the requirements matter then there will be NO Ios user and its quiet evident by the market share and Apple lost it to android as compare to 16% in 2012.

[sillykeetie]

I really like the Ipad 2 I have. I've accidently stepped on it, dropped it, punched, slept on top of, and never once has it bent, cracked, or ever stopped working. It's durable. I do like the OS for Iphones and Ipads but the battery for Iphones are terrible. I also do hate how godawful and expensive Iphones are. If I could afford one I could but for now I can live with my budget Samsung J1 and old Ipad2.