Android is imploding, and there's nothing that can be done to stop it

[RV_]

There are more OEMs scrambling over one another for attention than there are customers to go around.

 

Excerpt:

 

"Things are not good in Androidland.

 

In the space of a few short weeks we've seen Sony cease smartphone production in Brazil, Dell quit the Android tablet market, and LG show some of its execs the door after the "flagship G5 smartphone failed to generate sales.

 

This is a classic case of too many hardware makers and not enough customers. And while Sony ceasing production in Brazil is down to a number of factors - although the word is that sales in that region didn't pan out as expected - Dell's exit and LG firing executives are both purely down to sales.

 

And it's not because Dell and LG didn't make good hardware. The Dell Venue 8 7000 is probably the best Android business slate available (even if the name is a mouthful). But the tablet market is contracting rapidly, as consumers turn away from pure tablets in favor of 2-in-1 devices. The eagle-eyed among you might have noticed how few tablets were on show at CES this year, and how Google really downplayed tablet features in its new Android Nutella, I mean Nougat.

 

And while the LG G5 was expensive, and came with high-priced "friends" (the name LG gave to the modules that attached to the device), it was a flagship device from a company that had the courage to innovate.

 

LG was once one of the biggest Android OEMs, but according to Gartner by the beginning of this year it had fallen to seventh in global smartphone sales, with a market share of less than 4 percent.

 

LG it seems doesn't even want to gamble any money on adverts to increase brand awareness of its own product.

 

And no wonder. While Android might have 80 percent of device sales, it only pulls in some 20 percent of the money. Apple's figures here are reversed, which gives the company considerable resources for advertising and R&D into new products.

 

So what's going on here?"

 

See the whole article for links and related here: http://www.zdnet.com/article/android-is-imploding-and-theres-nothing-that-can-be-done-to-stop-it/

[Al F]

What are you saying? Are Apple devices the only ones which are going to be left?

[Darryl&Rita]

Windows phones are making inroads, but unless Google gets their act together and starts making money off their OS, yes, Apple will end up the dominant player.

[D&J]

The market is flooded with new phones that do all sorts of things that the average user doesn't want or use and are way to expensive Apple included. I read a article the other day that Apple is having a hard time selling their newest and greatest stuff. When I upgraded from a Tracphone smartphone to Verizon I bought a LG3 off Amazon for $100 and it does everything I need in a phone and when I upgrade agian I will do the same thing,I may be a few years behind the lastest and greatest phones but if I drop it it's not that big a deal plus it fits in my pocket.

 

Denny

[Bill Joyce]

The comments for the article are more fun than the article.

[RV_]

Apple iPhone and tablet sales have been declining for a couple of years too. The market is flat and startup players and marginal are feeling it as much as the leaders today.

[pugsly]

I guess somebody forgot to tell Samsung the bad news.

 

"Samsung said on Thursday that its second-quarter operating profit likely rose 17.4% from a year earlier. The figure marks the highest for Samsung in more than 2 years. The company adds that sales of Galaxy S7 flagship smartphone propelled its mobile earnings."

[jerryneal]

X2 with Pugsly. I'm amazed at the use of Samsung, especially the new S7. I was an iPhone user since the 3 & 3s days and jumped ship this year to an Edge. Being a huge techie geek, I take notice what others are using. For the first time in years, I see Samsung phones in use more than the Phone.

 

With a tiring iPad2, I also picked up a couple Lenovo Tab2 tablets for $135 each. Couldn't be happier. Also grabbed a couple cheap Chinese 8" tablets for the grand kids and loaded up movies on an SD micro for the long trips. With disposable tablets in the $40 - $50 range, I can't see how the big name hardware guys can sell against these cheaper knock offs.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

I support a website for a community and have mobile phone support. Unfortunately, there are a lot of iPhones in the mix and I was really surprised on how poorly iPhones support web standards.

 

I guess that is what a cult following allows.