Really hard not to hate Apple right now...

[Brian Fein]

There are FAR more phone models using Android, including phones from Samsung, Motorola, and HTC.  Makes sense that it would outsell a single product (or even multiple products) from a single manufacturer.  Its kinda like saying "more people by produce than Snackwells Vanilla Cream cookies."

[Dave Gray]

^ If the iphone OS was superior to Android, wouldn't you expect iphone to be selling better regardless?  That had been the case until recently.

No, I wouldn't.

iPhone is close to (if not) the best selling phone on the market, and that's despite its fairly hefty price-tag. 

As of recently, Android had 27% of the market-share.  That's across all of their phones that use Android.  (HG, Motorola, HTC, Samsung, Sony, etc)
iPhone had 23%.  That's just one company: Apple.

That means that 23% of all of the phones on the street are iPhones.

You're comparing the sales of like 10 combined companies to the sales of 1 company.

[StL FinFan]

Ok now you're confusing me with math.   I will decide what I like best when I can afford a smart phone and get back to you.

[Pappy13]

That means that 23% of all of the phones on the street are iPhones.

Since you brought math into it, then maybe you should clarify that statement.  23% of all the smartphones are iPhones.  I don't own a smartphone.

[Spider-Dan]

That's kind of misleading, though.  Android is an Operating System, not a phone.  Many phones use Android.  Only the iPhone uses Apple's OS.

It's no more misleading than saying "Windows is more popular than Macintosh."

Sure, lots of PCs from many different manufacturers use Windows, but only Macs use OSX.  Who cares?  At the end of the day, Microsoft's computer platform is more popular than Apple's, and Google's phone platform is more popular than Apple's.

[fyo]

Sure, lots of PCs from many different manufacturers use Windows, but only Macs use OSX.  Who cares?  At the end of the day, Microsoft's computer platform is more popular than Apple's, and Google's phone platform is more popular than Apple's.

Popular is a contentious word in this context. Symbian is about as "popular" among smartphones as iPhones and Android phones COMBINED.

A lot of that has to do with PRICE. It's not like someone goes to the store, picks up too basically identical phones (hardware and price) and deliberately picks the one with Symbian. I'm assuming no sane person would do that. Even Nokia's own staff don't do that.

IOW, let's stick with calling it market share and not popularity (although I'm well aware of the etymology).

[Spider-Dan]

It's no more misleading than saying "Windows is more popular has a larger market share than Macintosh."

Sure, lots of PCs from many different manufacturers use Windows, but only Macs use OSX.  Who cares?  At the end of the day, Microsoft's computer platform is more popular has a larger market share than Apple's, and Google's phone platform is more popular has a larger market share than Apple's.

[Dave Gray]

It's no more misleading than saying "Windows is more popular than Macintosh.

It is when you're using that statement as a reflection of the quality of the product.  (STL's original point) It is not popular because it is better and people are choosing it Android over iOS, it's more popular because it's the default on the majority of phone types available.

[Spider-Dan]

It is when you're using that statement as a reflection of the quality of the product.  (STL's original point) It is not popular because it is better and people are choosing it Windows over OSX, it's more popular because it's the default on the majority of computers available.

Again, how is this any different from comparing Windows to Mac?

If you infer that "larger market share" = "superior product," then sure, you'll come to that conclusion.  But that isn't necessarily required.

Side note: I don't seem to hear these objections to "more market share = better product" when, say, iPod vs. Zune is being discussed.

[Dave Gray]

Side note: I don't seem to hear these objections to "more market share = better product" when, say, iPod vs. Zune is being discussed.

Because there is 1 iPod (Apple) and 1 Zune (Microsoft).

STL was relating the quality of the iPhone to the popuarity of the iOS.

[Spider-Dan]

"quality of iPhone" and "quality of iOS" are the same thing (you can substitute "popularity" in there for "quality," too).  You're splitting hairs.

When Apple products (e.g. iPod) are top-sellers, it's because they are obviously the best in the market, but when they aren't the top sellers, suddenly market share can't be used to assess quality of product?

[Dave Gray]

I am not defending Apple.  I'm just trying to straighten out the statement.  I don't think it's fair to judge the quality of the iPhone as compared to other phones by comparing market share of iOS to those that are open.

[Brian Fein]

And I don't think its fair to assume that the iPhone is the "best phone on the market" as you do, when in fact, many Android-based devices are far better.  Each person must make their own assessment, and iPhone isn't always the winner.

Are you speaking of quality in a singular term (number of defects per units shipped of iPhone) or comparatively?

[fyo]

The point I was trying to make previously, and apparently I made a shitty job of it, is that comparing a high-end product to a line of products spanning all price ranges with (in the case of Symbian) vastly different feature sets.

The iPhone is, by far, the most popular phone in its class. Even when compared to all Android phones *in the same class*.

[Spider-Dan]

Which Android phones are not "in the same class" as an iPhone?

Unless you're comparing the iPhone to one specific Android model, I don't see how it could be more popular.