
Android Overtakes Apple in Australia - nreece
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/android-overtakes-apple-in-australia-20121212-2b8q2.html
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freakyterrorist
Does this really surprise anyone? The cheapest you can buy an iPhone (4
outright) is $450AUD and contracted plans with newer iPhones start at around
$50-60AUD per month. Android are outright starting at $49 and available at all
spend levels on plans.

To be honest what's surprising is it took this long...

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codeka
> To be honest what's surprising is it took this long...

I agree. I think this goes to show just how much Australians are willing to
pay for technology in general. It's a shame that we get shafted on a lot of
technology/electronics but the fact is that people are willing to pay.

~~~
jbarham
Speaking as a Canadian transplant to Australia via the US, the Australian
mobile market is actually quite competitive compared to the US or Canada.

There are more operators relative to the population, there are more shorter-
term plans (i.e., 1 year vs. 2 or 3) and the monthly rates are decent.

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dorian-graph
Most plans are 2 years.

~~~
JuDue
Optus and Telstra both allow you to choose your payback plan and rate? So
yearly is always possible, even if not seen on the posters.

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jwhite
For those who missed it, this is the most important paragraph in the article:

 _"It's a tablet Christmas there's no doubt about that," said Ben Mcintosh,
general manager of technology and entertainment at Harvey Norman. "There is no
doubt in my mind that we will sell out of just about every tablet we have in
stock by the end of the month."_

I'd better go out and get mine before they run out!

See: <http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html>

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codeka
Australians have always been big Apple users, in my experience. Despite seeing
statistics showing increasing share of Android, I always only ever saw Apple
devices on the bus/train. Not very scientific, I know, but I have noticed more
and more Android devices whenever I'm on the train in recent months.

~~~
kaliblack
I see the same thing, but here's some numbers to back up what we're seeing:
[http://gs.statcounter.com/#mobile_os-AU-
monthly-201112-20121...](http://gs.statcounter.com/#mobile_os-AU-
monthly-201112-201211)

The jaws are closing, but slowly.

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spo81rty
I see a lot about Android having a high market share. I've seen numbers like
70-75%. But I think Apple buyers are more affluent and buy more apps even
though their market share is only 20%. A lot of people who used to have
feature phones or buy the cheapest pre paid phones they can get, now get
android phones. Virgin Mobile has one for like $60 my in-laws have. So my
point is, while the high android market share is there, as an app developer,
the market share in relation to app usage and spend is still skewed towards
Apple for now.

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btilly
There is a lot of data supporting your claim.

But the key point is _for now_. Given current market trends, in the not too
distant future there will be more money in Android. (Particularly since you
don't need to give Apple a 30% cut.)

~~~
luke_s
Actually if you want to sell apps through the Google play store you still need
to give google a 30% cut [1]. With android you always do have the option to
try through other app stores, or just allowing users to download the .apk from
your website. However given how few people actually look anywhere else but the
play store, you are going to take a hit much larger than 30% if you are not in
google play.

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Play#Applications>

~~~
bad_user
With Android you don't have to go through their store. For example I bought
one Humble Bundle [1] pack of Android games (which was quite successful)
directly from their website. Then I got a link in my email for their downloads
and I could install them directly.

> _given how few people actually look anywhere else but the play store_

I do not believe the truthfulness of this statement, considering how many
services get popular outside any app store. Do you think people find out about
Twitter or DropBox by browsing the app store?

> _you are going to take a hit much larger than 30% if you are not in google
> play_

It really depends on what channels of distribution you can tap into. Some apps
are popular only because they get promoted on the play store. Other apps are
popular by other means. And no, you don't necessarily need a middleman.

IMHO, Android is much better in every regard, because on Android the walled
garden is optional for everybody.

[1] <http://www.humblebundle.com/>

~~~
luke_s
Heh, actually I bought the Android humble bundle as well. I loved the fact
that they could do something like that on Android. Its true that there are
loads of services that people find outside the app/play store such as twitter
or drop box. But if I wanted to install a drop box client, the first place I
would go is to the play store to search for dropbox!

It would be a really interesting experiment for an existing service to host an
.apk on their website in addition to listing in the google play store. I
wonder how many people would side load the app, vs just going through play?

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DigitalSea
I wonder if this has something to do with the economy? Apple devices are
expensive while on the contrary, you can get a prepaid Android phone starting
at $49 in Australia with a camera and ability to download apps. I'm surprised
it's taken this long, we always pay twice sometimes three times more than our
American counterparts for shiny Apple gadgets (let alone everything else), I
guess the appeal of Apple products are starting to become lost on us Aussies.

~~~
beamso
Apple's pricing in Australia is generally very competitive. I know for laptops
you pay significantly more in Australia for brands like Lenovo (in comparison
with their USA pricing).

~~~
mwill
On iPhone pricing in Australia, can someone let me know if this is a contract
thing, like hidden costs on the US version, because the US store lists the
cheapest iPhone 5 as $199, where the AU store lists it as $799. $199USD =~
$189AUD.

On the face of it it seems pretty unfair, is there something I'm missing?

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codeka
$799 is the outright price: that is, not on a contract. If you buy one one a
contract you might pay $5 per month over 24 months (depending on the plan and
model you get).

~~~
mwill
Thanks, I had a suspicion this might be it, I don't suppose you've got any
idea why Apple sell/advertise them in a contract by default there but not
here?

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whatusername
So Going to Tesltra: [http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/mobile-
phones/iphone...](http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/mobile-
phones/iphone/) or Optus: <https://www.optus.com.au/shop/iphone> or Vodaphone:
<http://www.vodafone.com.au/personal/iphone/home/iphone-5> the iPhone 5 is
FREE* (*With Monthly payments of $50-$100 on a 2 year contract)

~~~
mwill
Sorry, I'm not sure if you're point out the existence of the plans here, or
that they seem to be more expensive than what grandparent comment said they
run for in the US.

If its the former, I was aware you could get them on a plan with a provider
here, I was wondering why Apple hasn't partnered with Telstra or whoever to
push the plans as the primary price point like they do on the US site and
presumably in stores.

If its the latter, I wouldn't be surprised if that's just down more expensive
data/phone usage plans?

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whatusername
Sorry - the point I was attempting to make (While tired/slightly-drunk) was
that all the major carriers have _free_ plans. SO the upfront cost of the
phone would be $0 (Which is exactly the same up-front cost as he SGS-3,
HTC-1XL, etc). I'm not sure that apple want to position themselves like that.
For apples perspective -- having it be a $700ish phone is better than a "free"
phone.

As to Apple not pushing the plans -- it could just be the fact that they don't
have a "primary" partner. Since every Telco had the phone on launch -- Apple
would become an intermediary offering choices (Is Optus or Telstra better in
my area?).

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mwill
If anyone stumbles on this, I actually ended up looking this up, thought I'd
add it to the record ; ). Turns out it's considered third line forcing, and is
illegal here, prohibited by the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, previously
covered by the Trade Practices Act, here's the relevant section (hacked apart
for clarity) [1]:

 _(a) supplies, or offers to supply, goods or services; (b) supplies, or
offers to supply, goods or services at a particular price; or (c) gives or
allows, or offers to give or allow, a discount, allowance, rebate or credit in
relation to the supply or proposed supply of goods or services by the
corporation; [...] on the condition that the person to whom the corporation
supplies or offers or proposes to supply the goods or services [...] will
acquire goods or services of a particular kind or description directly or
indirectly from another person not being a body corporate related to the
corporation._

Note that this only prevents Apple from selling a locked/contract device,
carrier locked devices and contracts are fine, as long as they're part of a
deal made explicitly between the customer and the third party. Back in 2008
they were making exclusive deals with single carriers in several countries,
which would have pretty clearly violated this, so seems like Apple Australia
were restricted to outright & unlocked devices, or only selling via carriers.

Now, though, Apple give a choice of carrier and an option to buy outright in
the US (And other countries, I assume), which, IANAL, is probably still
prohibited by section (b) or (c), ie, 'you can still buy it if you refuse the
contract, but you get a cheaper price if you take the contract' sounds like it
would still be covered by the 'at a particular price' clause.

[1] 47(6):
[http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2012C00877/Html/Volume_1#_...](http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2012C00877/Html/Volume_1#_Toc342312407)

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gshahlot
I am not sure why exactly is this a big deal and even surprising. Apple's iOS
sells on limited hardware and they do a release annually or lately semi-
annually. On the other hand, there is a new worthy Android device coming out
every two weeks from big shots like Samsung, HTC, LG, Motorola, Sony Ericsson
to name a few. So it was only a matter of time before Android caught up with
iOS and captured the market.

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JuDue
Android is the new Feature Phone in some ways (as well as high end models
too).

Google always intended saturation to prop up their Ad model.

Interesting to hear stirrings of Apple iterating faster.

Apple already pwn the market profit-wise. But do they need to fend of a
competitive OS which aims to saturate?

Or can they live side by side? And nudge out Windows phone together?

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JimmaDaRustla
This makes me happy since Apple made Samsung miss out on sales last holiday
season.

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JuDue
Samsung made itself miss out.

~~~
JimmaDaRustla
Reasoning required.

