It is Apple versus Samsung and iOS versus Android…
The fight is on! Two of the mobile industry’s megaliths are set to slug it out for marketshare this year. It is Apple versus Samsung, and it’s going to be all about technique.
As part of its existing reuse and recycling programme, Apple is rumoured to be considering extending its service out to non-Apple brands. Apple has plans in place to begin accepting smartphone brands other than its own as trade-ins for new Apple kit. Devices that will be accepted include those running Apple iOS arch enemy, Google’s Android, and former smartphone champion turned mobile dunce, BlackBerry, an insider at Apple has stated.
But why is this happening? The move to extend its recycling service to non-Apple brands looks like part of Apple’s bid to grab more marketshare from Android, to retain its recent lead against the green robot, and globally to keep fighting against Samsung device shipments. And using a switchover service should appeal to customers, as according to Kantar Worldpanel Comtech, in the last quarter of 2014 13.9% of iOS customers in the US switched over from an Android device, up from 12.1%.
Meanwhile, Samsung stated last week that it intends to attract buyers for its mobile devices through the use of more premium end materials across its range, in a bid to win back marketshare following the lead taken by Apple last December. The company will create smartphones in all areas of its portfolio with metal casings, HD displays and slim, attractive designs.
Smart Chimps recently reported that Samsung lost the number one smartphone sales spot to Apple in the global smartphone market in the fourth quarter of 2014, a position that Samsung had held since 2011. The manufacturer’s unit sales of smartphones in the fourth quarter of last year dropped to 19.9% of global marketshare, from 29.5% of the global market in the same period one year previously, according to Gartner. However, over the course of the entire year Samsung still dominated Apple.
A sad time for Samsung, and even though the announcement of the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge have rallied confidence in the manufacturer, will it be enough to win back the crown? The battle for world domination continues!
