Ever wonder how badly graphics and gaming performance gets compromised in the hottest apps on older hardware? As it turns out, not very badly at all. Maybe that’s why iOS has become a major gaming platform.
While Android has a significantly larger user base, iOS has always been the more profitable platform for app developers. That’s expected to change over the next three years, however. One analyst believes that by 2018, Google Play will bring in more revenue than the App Store for the first time ever.
The iPhone 5s is the number one smartphone in 35 countries around the world, according to new research conducted by Counterpoint Technology Market Research.
Samsung’s Galaxy S5 came in second followed by the S4, Note 3 phablet, and iPhone 5c at fifth place. With larger 4.7 and 5.5-inch iPhones on the horizon, Counterpoint notes that Apple will have another hit on its hands if it goes after the larger-screen smartphone market.
Samsung’s newly-launched flagship Galaxy S5 might have hoped to capture some of the iPhone’s market dominance in Britain, but new research figures show that even in its first month it trailed behind sales of the iPhone 5s and even Apple’s so-called “flop” iPhone 5c.
The numbers were crunched by research company Kantar Worldpanel, which looked at smartphone sales in the month of May. The Galaxy S5 did manage to convert a few former iOS users to become Android fans, with 17 percent of new S5 owners being former iPhone users.
Even this news is unlikely to worry Apple (or make Samsung particularly cheerful), however:
If you’re looking for a good deal on an iPhone — and aren’t too concerned about being the first person on your block to own an iPhone 6 — it’s a great time to be a customer.
A few months back, RadioShack lowered its prices on the iPhone 5s, and now Walmart is doing the same. From today, Walmart is making the 16GB iPhone 5s available for $99 on a two-year contract, representing a $50 saving. The 16GB iPhone 5c is even better value, costing just $29 (down from $49) for a similar two-year contract.
Apple is definitely making a big screen iPhone that will launch this fall, the only question is how much extra is it going to cost you?
Fanboys are notoriously willing to pay an extra Apple Tax for Macs, but some analysts are worried a bigger iPhone with bigger price tag will chase some away. Those fears will probably prove to be unrealized though according to a survey by Raymond James that claims most of Apple’s potential iPhablet customers are totally cool shelling out $100 more.
In four months, Apple will reveal new iPhones. It’s as certain as the changing of summer to fall: Leaves die, kids go back to school, and the world gets a shiny new iPhone, delivered with love from Cupertino.
But when Tim Cook takes the wraps off this year’s version, what’s to become of the poor, sad, unloved iPhone 5c, still begging the world to caress its unapologetically plastic frame?
Will there be a sequel?
A set of images of the iPhone 6’s alleged backlight panel have been leaked on the Chinese site Weibo this morning. User “顾Gooey” who posted the pictures claims they’re fit for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 that Apple is rumored to release later this year.
We can’t verify the legitimacy of the photos, but the part does appear to be produced similar to the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s. However, Nowhereelse.fr notes that the connector has been moved slightly from the iPhone 5c backlight, and the pins are slightly different, signaling some possible changes from Cupertino.
Here’s another shot of the display from the back:
Apple is planning to rollout a new 8GB iPhone 5c in India starting this June in hopes to turn the country into it’s next booming market.
India was one of the few places you could still buy an iPhone 4 until last week when Apple pulled phone from the country. A cheaper iPhone 5c will aim to boost Apple’s marketshare in a smartphone market dominated by Sony and Samsung.
In the past, when anyone has talked about the possibility of a low-cost iPhone aimed at the budget market, most have assumed that Apple would essentially take the iPod touch — currently the cheapest iOS device, after subsidies, which saves on cost in a number of key regards like screen quality, speed, storage and more — and graft some cellular modems onto it. Yet when Apple unveiled the iPhone 5c, what they showed was a smartphone that was essentially an iPhone 5 in a plastic shell. In other words, a last-gen iPhone that was cheaper for Apple to make, but not necessarily to buy.
Yet according to new court documents coming out of the latest Apple vs. Samsung case, such a vision for the ‘cheap’ iPhone was not always meant to be. In fact, Steve Jobs himself believed that the budget iPhone should be based off of the iPod touch.
Tim Cook might have claimed that iPhone 5c demand “turned out to be different than we thought” on Apple’s recent quarterly earnings conference call, but there’s one company that doesn’t seem too upset about the 5c’s performance: Apple supplier Pegatron.
We’ll admit we’ve called the iPhone 5c a flop more than a few times. But it’s important to remember that what is a flop for Apple would be a huge success by the standards of any other company, which is why the iPhone 5c outsold every Blackberry, Windows Phone and Android flagship in Q4.
That’s not to say that the iPhone 5c’s sales are what Apple wants it to be. In the most recent quarterly earnings conference call, Tim Cook himself admitted that iPhone 5c demand “turned out to be different than we thought.” Even though the iPhone 5c is selling well according to the standards of the rest of the smartphone industry, you have to wonder if even for $100 less, people would really prever a colorful plastic iPhone 5c than a premium-feeling iPhone 5. Even people opting for year old miles are buying an iPhone to get a high-end product, and the major failing of the iPhone 5c seems to be the plastic just doesn’t satisfy that requirement. What do you think?
Secret sauce—it’s the reason Apple keeps winning where others fail, and on our newest CultCast, we discuss the recipe that keeps Apple ahead of the pack. Plus, iOS 8 rumors detail some powerful new features; whispers of an impossibly thin iPhone 6; A-list musicians praise Pono as the digital music player for audiophiles; iPad 4 makes a comeback; and we reveal our favorite Cult movies on a all-new Get To Know Your Cultist!
Guffaw your way through each week’s best Apple stories! Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the uproarious good time commence.
And thanks to FreshBooks for sponsoring this episode! That’s right, Fresbooks the simple online accounting solution built for small business owners – just like you – who want to skip the headache of tax time. For a limited time, try FreshBooks free 60 days, and enter “CultCast” in the “How Did You Hear About Us” section.
Show notes up next!
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CultCast #118 – The Secret Sauce
Leander Kahney – Cult of Mac Editor-in-Chief, loyal subject of the Queen.
Erfon Elijah – Cult of Mac writer and host of The CultCast.
Buster Heine – Cult of Mac writer and community manager.
iOS 8 Apple considers Notification Center Messages tweaks removing Game Center app (Discussion)
Pegatron And Foxconn Gearing Up For iPhone 6 Production [Rumor]
Apple Retires iPad 2, Replaces It With Retina Display Model
Apple Confirms The 8GB iPhone 5c Will Not Be Sold In The U.S.
Here’s a simple math question for you. How much more free space should a 16GB Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone have than an 8GB iPhone 5c?
If you said twice as much, wrong. That’s not Samsung math! Because in reality, an 8GB iPhone 5c has just 3.16 GB less usable storage than a flagship 16GB Galaxy S5.
You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who would argue that Apple’s Lightning connector isn’t superior to the old 30-pin connector in every way. That’s why it’s surprising that it has taken Apple so long to phase 30-pin out of its product lineup.
Today Apple brought back the fourth-gen iPad to replace the non-Retina iPad 2. While the press release focuses on the obvious display upgrade, discontinuing the iPad 2 means something else that’s important: another nail in the coffin for 30-pin.
Apple launched its new 8GB iPhone 5c in Europe this morning, but the cheaper handset is yet to reach the U.S. online store. That’s because it isn’t going to. The Cupertino company has confirmed that the device will only be available in a select few countries, and the U.S. isn’t one of them.
Just as expected, Apple has today added a cheaper 8GB model to its iPhone 5c lineup. The handset is available to order now from a number of European carriers, and via European Apple Online Stores, where it can be purchased for £429 ($714) off-contract.
Apple is expected to give potential iPhone 5c customers a cheaper option tomorrow with the launch of a new 8GB model. Leaked documents from O2 Germany have confirmed the existence of the device and its launch date, while two carriers in the U.K. have reportedly already received their first deliveries.
The iPhone 5c flopped in the U.S. — and now figures released by Umeng, China’s largest app analytics platform, suggest that things aren’t much different in China.
In the fourth month since its launch in China, the colorful iPhone 5c accounted for slightly less than 2% of all active iOS devices on Umeng’s app analytics network.
By comparison, the iPhone 5s represented 12% of the market — while the iPhone 5 remains a consistent seller.
The iPhone 5c is a total flop, and Apple may very well kill it off entirely when the iPhone 6 comes around. But Cupertino’s not going down without a fight, which is why the company is making a major advertising push for the iPhone 5c on Yahoo and the New York Times webpage.
The consensus within the rumor mill seems to be that Apple will release not one, but two larger iPhones later this year. According to a new report from Japanese site Macotakara, the new designs will borrow heavily from the existing iPhone 5c and iPod nano.
If you love the iPhone 5c, here’s a painful chart, courtesy of analytics plaform Mixpanel: growth of the iPhone 5c is pretty much stagnant at just around 6% (roughly where it’s been since Christmas), even as the iPhone 5s has achieved a 20% share of the iPhone market, overtaking the iPhone 4 and approaching the iPhone 4s in popularity.
Are people not buying the iPhone 5c because its colorful exterior selling point is rendered useless by the fact that most people keep their iPhones in cases?
That’s one of two theories put forward by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who is the latest person to suggest that the iPhone 5c isn’t doing too well in the marketplace.
According to 1,003 consumers polled last week by Munster, just 6% of smartphone buyers plan to pick up an iPhone 5c — down from 9% in December.
Apple won’t come right out and say so, but the iPhone 5c is a (comparative) dud. But why? Legendarly Apple ad man Ken Segall has his theories, and it all comes down to the fact that with the iPhone 5c, Apple violated Steve Jobs’ prime directive: Apple doesn’t do cheap.
Periodically, Best Buy has been known to offer $50 discounts on select iPhones and iPads. If you’re looking to save a few bucks on an Apple product, Best Buy’s deals are a good, regularly occurring window to buy the device you’ve had your eye on.
If you’ve been waiting for that window to open again, good news! Starting this Sunday, February 16, and going to February 22nd, Best Buy will be taking $50 off the purchase of any iPhone with a two-year contract on any carrier.
You can also get $50 off the iPad mini with Retina Display, but only if you hop to it: that deal ends today. And if you trade in your old iPad while you’re with it, you can get a Best Buy gift card worth up to $200… probably not the best value for trading-in an old iPad, but a deal that could possibly influence some President’s Day weekend impulse shoppers.
Via: CNET
