Apple's Tim Cook: "There's a horse in Redmond that always runs"

[aubreyq]

http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/24/2...nt-a-two-horse-race-theres-a-horse-in-redmond

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[Reflexx]

It's good to see that he's taking MS seriously, as opposed to being as dismissive as Google has been.

Pride comes before the fall. So this bodes well for Apple not falling.

 

[aubreyq]

It's good to see that he's taking MS seriously, as opposed to being as dismissive as Google has been.

Pride comes before the fall. So this bodes well for Apple not falling.

I agree. Complacency is the enemy of a business. Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft have all experienced it one way or the other. The fact that Apple recognizes Windows Phone as a legitimate competitor cements Windows Phone's relevance in the mobile market and pushes Apple to stay innovative. Competition is always good.

Run, Windows Phone, run!!

 

[aubreyq]

Full transcript of that specific Q & A:
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Q: Android vs iPhone, is this becoming a two-horse race like Mac vs Windows? How is your integrated model vs the OEM market like Windows?

A: Don’t view it like Mac/Windows. Mac has outgrown the market 20 quarters in a row, but still single digits in worldwide market. In iOS, we’ve sold 315 million devices and this comparison is very favorable for us. 62 million of those were done in the last quarter alone. I haven’t found a way to get very crisp quarterly reporting for Android like we do, that is transparent and reliable. If you look at NPD data, in the US for October/November, just for phones, the iPhone is 43% and Android is 47%. Nielsen data shows iPhone for Oct/Nov/Dec at 45% vs Android at 47%. ComScore data for Oct/Nov with iPhone at 42% vs Android at 41%. All the data in the US shows it is a very close race on iPhone. On iPad side, I think that all of us inherently believe that iPad is way ahead there. There is really no comparable product to the iPod Touch either. iOS is doing extremely well. I wouldn’t say it’s a two horse race. There’s a horse in Redmond that will always get up and keep running and there are other players that we won’t count out.

We focus on innovating and making the world’s best products and ignore how many horses there are. We just want to stay ahead and be the lead one.
==================================================

 

[based_graham]

Apple makes great products none the less if you need a safe bet go for Apple the good thing about this is that it awoken 2 sleeping giants Microsoft and Nokia and they will do whatever it takes to create the most amazing consumer products. Its going to be an all out war in the next 2 - 3 years on who really takes consumer dominance I am with the #WINdows team I used to be with #Jobsgang until my Macbook Pro broke down and traded my iPhone 3G for a Blackberry (uggh bad move but its all good I have WP7 now)

 

[CHIP72]

RE: Tim Cook's comments and the recent report predicting Windows Phone OS market share will surpass iOS market share by 2015:

IMO (and many other people's opinions), Microsoft is positioning Windows Phone somewhere in between what Google is doing with Android OS and Apple is doing with iOS. With Microsoft's focus on producing inexpensive smartphones, I think Android's global market share will be impacted more than Apple's. It's important to keep in mind that 1) in many markets phones are sold unsubsidized and off-contract and 2) the major growth markets for smartphones/pocket computers will be emerging countries and 3rd world countries. If Microsoft produces better low-end smartphones than Google does (and right now I think they do), they will be very well-positioned to capture the largest segment of the global market. Apple will be less impacted because they are focused primarily on the high-end of the market and are more profit-focused than market share-focused (the opposite of Google's/Android smartphone manufacturers' strategy).

 

[based_graham]

They need to make the Lumias cheaper because when iPhone 5 comes out your going to expect the iPhone 4s at 99$ and iPhone 4 free on contract so the Lumias need to be priced competively. Its going to be interesting how Microsoft and Nokia are going to battle this.

 

[aubreyq]

They need to make the Lumias cheaper because when iPhone 5 comes out your going to expect the iPhone 4s at 99$ and iPhone 4 free on contract so the Lumias need to be priced competively. Its going to be interesting how Microsoft and Nokia are going to battle this.

That will be interesting for sure.


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[Zumanity]

I think Apple has always considered Microsoft to be a stable player in the Phone OS game.

Apple has always "hated" Android and how it (as they say) basically copies iOS in a cheaper clunky version.

Microsoft is something very new, and it might be of concern for Apple in the coming years.

 

[based_graham]

In terms of pricing for Microsoft to really stay competitive with iPhone yearly releases it would be best to price the Lumia 900 to 99$ with contract to match the iPhone 4S 2012 price.

Nokia must annouce a flagship Apollo handset and release it before the iPhone 5 comes out this is very critical I would also price it a bit lower than the iPhone 5 at 149$ with contract to make a Nokia purchase more appealing.

Nokia should drop the Lumia 800 as the free phone with contract to compete with the iPhone 4 (2012) price and I would consider selling the Lumia 710 at 300$ unlocked this can actually make the Lumia 710 appealing to small businesses 300$ unlocked phones are better then buying top of the line phones on contract. For example I find it soo stupid that my company bought Blackberrys with a 3 year contract those phones are not worth 600$ now were stuck paying monthly for phones that ex employees left over and nobody is using them.

Since I am really competitive I would consider selling Lumias at a small lost and make up for it with Nokia accessories like dedicated flash cards, batteries etc.

Just a quick thought nothing to do with the topic but I just wanted to get this outta my head.

 

[Pronk]

This kind of thinking is why Apple still behave like a small, eager start-up despite being the most valuable tech company in the world (or is that Oracle again? Pretty close anyway).

 

[cedarlog]

my bet goes to the Redmond horse:happy:

 

[aubreyq]

Nokia must annouce a flagship Apollo handset and release it before the iPhone 5 comes out this is very critical I would also price it a bit lower than the iPhone 5 at 149$ with contract to make a Nokia purchase more appealing.

Completely agree. The expectation is that the iPhone 5 will have a new design, and I would expect a new killer feature that will set the iPhone ahead yet again; perhaps something evolutionary or revolutionary in battery life. A Nokia phone would really need to differentiate itself with its own set of features.

This kind of thinking is why Apple still behave like a small, eager start-up despite being the most valuable tech company in the world (or is that Oracle again? Pretty close anyway).

That is exactly right. Like Tim Cook said, they aren't thinking too much about the other "horses" (OSs), they are focusing on being the lead horse by innovating.

my bet goes to the Redmond horse:happy:

Hey, I'll put some money down, too. A Windows 8, Windows Phone, Xbox trifecta