The Ongoing War Between Android and iPhone Users
Eight years ago, Apple launched the iPhone that changed the way people use and see mobile phones. The era of smartphones had begun and Apple had the first mover advantage. However, their product was closely followed by Google who came up with Android, the ‘free’ OS that allowed users to design, code and write any type of app that they want and provided many other features which were absent in iOS.
Since then the war between Android and iOS has continued and the ongoing war is a lot more intense than it was before, thanks to the addition of Windows phone and a few more smartphone OS which have been developed over the years and have tried to eat the market share of both Android and iOS.
The basis of the war:
When the iPhone was launched, a lot of people complained about a very restricted environment given by Apple to their users. It was mainly because iOS does not allow you to copy songs without iTunes, it does not allow iPhones to connect to other Bluetooth devices unless they’re from Apple and most importantly, there was no way a user could tweak the system and do some modification to make the experience better for himself.
Looking at these downsides of the iPhone, Google came up with the idea of Android and their OS has been as free as it gets. The Google Play Store is a friendly environment where even a new developer can dwell without having to shed dollars and most of the students and other users who would not want to spend too much of money on their smartphones are Android users. The introduction of android brought about a change in the entire landscape of the market, with the prime focus going to Apple and Google within a couple years since their products were launched.
The market war between these two giants also resulted in the elimination of Blackberry and Nokia from the market as they were not able to adapt adequately with the changing trends. Microsoft did not move into the mobile segment as soon as they would have wanted to, but being a major player in the OS market, Windows Mobile is another strong competitor which is gaining acceptance in the current scenario, as per the reports of a prominent Mobile App Development Company.
Current status of the War:
Though many reports say that Android won the war, there are many providers of iPhone App Development think otherwise. The reports presented by various firms vary from region to region and after carefully analyzing all that is being said about the current status of the war between users of Android and iOS, it can be seen that the war has reached a stalemate where about 80% of the Android users are retained while 78% of the iPhone users are being kept too.
Windows and other brands with their own OS are not seeing any significant growth rate right now and the new users coming to Android and iPhone are mostly the ones who are migrating from Windows.
So, about a decade into the war between the two mobile giants, we can finally say that the situation has become stagnant since the past two or three years and there is no clear winner of this feud. We can expect to see a shift in the future if any of the platforms bring in a massive change, but for now, the war is a little cold and people are enjoying the peacetime.
