Apple iPhones: The Unexpected Reason They Top the U.S. Smartphone Market | WSJ Tech News Briefing

Apple controls more than half of the U.S. smartphone market. One big reason for that dominance isn't the company’s marketing strategy or its cool factor among young people. Instead, it's got to do with how long iPhones hang around in the market.

WSJ tech columnist Christopher Mims joins host Zoe Thomas to explain.

0:00 iPhones now represent more than half of the U.S. smartphone market
0:53 Why Apple's market share in the smartphone industry is so large
3:03 Do rival companies like Samsung create longer lasting phones?
3:39 Does Apple make any revenue on sold, reused devices?
5:04 How Apple still heavily leans on its new, premium models

Tech News Briefing
WSJ’s tech podcast featuring breaking news, scoops and tips on tech innovations and policy debates, plus exclusive interviews with movers and shakers in the industry.

#Apple #iPhone #WSJ

[lostcharge]

I feel the peer pressure. My dad actually bought me an iPhone so they could message me better😅 (I’m a fully grown adult FYI)

[bydward]

Ease of use on the UI is the biggest selling point for me.

[SussyFortskinNiteFreakbob]

After years of using android and pixel, I have finally switched over to iphone and I've got to say I actually really like it already, the ecosystem feels way better, and it just works, the app store feels far better, and despite being the same price as my pixel 7 pro, the quality of the iphone 14 pro max feels a lot better comapred to even the flagship samsung phones I've used as well.

[shmookins]

Side topic relating to 'wall gardens':
It is interesting to see the game console industry do the same with 'wall gardens'. Each month, these game devices offer you free games. Of course, those games are always digital and so are locked to your account. It then becomes harder to switch to another console because you will start with zero digital games in your digital library while on the other company, you have hundreds already.

The other sneaky thing is now all consoles have digital trophies. This is a showcase for past game achievements. Although they mean absolutely nothing (they are just digital stickers under your account), they do add a psychological pressure of 'loosing everything' when you switch to another system- especially for younger users.

But at least cross-play and cross-saves are becoming a thing now, This is where you can play with other players online on others systems. And in some occasion, if you move to another platform, you ca carry your save with you- although the cross-save isn't that important now with always online multiplayer games are a thing.

I expect there will be a day where you buy a game and you can play it on any system. The system makers themselves will take a while to get on board, but major publishers will do this first, because to them, is the selling of games that makes money and rarely do people buy the same game twice.

[salkryeful]

Having the most years of os updates helps keep Apple on top of the market. Most Android OEMs only do two to three years of os update at best after tons of delays and some actually only do one year of os update. Samsung offers the longest android software update and it's only four years of os update. Meanwhile Apple already did six years for some of their oldest devices such as iphone 6.

[AlexAM]

Not to mention those of us who gift our used iPhones to our family members who don’t have one. I will get rid of my 12 and get a 14pro soon. My 12 will go to my sister.

[joshs]

Went to a concert this past weekend, saw only about 10 android phones

[ChadH]

Apple marketing is brilliant, nobody can argue that. They promote features that android already has but doesn't promote. Example, crash detection which google has had for years. Peer pressure and the assumption that apple means you are successful and people care about what others think of them. People get made fun of for using Android in the US and it's a real thing.

[finalfan]

i bought an iphone for the first time for this exact reason. you can't afford not to have updates on such an important device

[adiposerex]

Apple may support older models longer, but my iPhone 13 battery is already degrading. I don’t know how anyone keeps one longer.

[tsancio]

Here in Venezuela, the dominant messaging application is WhatsApp. However, amongst our group of friends, when we go out and share pictures, we do so with Apple's AirDrop, which doesn't affect the picture quality. Sending the pictures through WhatsApp is instant, but degrades the quality. Hence, our Android-using friends don't get the same experience.

[Krishnendulaha]

US people love iMessage most likely. Here in India Android has a market of over 97%. And the biggest reasons for this are two - we pay 140% of the price of US price and there's very very pathetic after sale service in India compared to US. Samsung is the best for the Indian market

[kwanziquadrillion]

This holds true for the US only. In my country an iPhone 14 pro max (256GB) is USD1750. A 1TB model is USD2600. An old iPhone 11 pro max is USD650 to USD700.

There are no payment plans in my country so you pay in cash upfront.

If iPhones were priced the same way they are in most countries then it definitely wouldn't be the most popular phone in the US.

[KulBear-krxq]

My Samsung Galaxy S5 from April 2014 and I have just upgraded to S23Ultra because Verizon doesn’t support S5 in many apps. I tried to use my wife’s old iPhone 6 from September 2014 but I couldn’t even play YouTube on iPhone 6.

I am still using Galaxy S5 with Google Voice and watching YouTube when working outdoors with great AMOLED display in sunny days. So much for longer support from Apple.

My wife has gone through iPhone 11 and has been complaining about her battery life with both iPhones. She has iPhone 14+ because of peer pressure from her 60+ old granny friends even though she doesn’t use anything other than checking her SNS messages, FaceTime and pictures for SNS.

Apple does have slightly better interoperability integration, and easier user interface. Samsung is better for work with Dex and fine tuning individual features. How do you stop Siri from checking your location? Bixby can be turned off until you need it.

[edgarlarios]

So, they basically go with the video game console philosophy and never let people leave without also losing all their stuff...

[GordonjSmith]

Apple have used their experience from 'Apple Macs' to grow an ecosystem that is very reliable and secure for their users, and people like that. By additionally bringing new services to the platform, Apple have a participating audience who both 'trust' the platform, but also enjoy features that reliable, and increasingly compatible with their network. What is not to like? Since when did other smart phone companies offer the same?

[andriytroyan]

I can’t believe people are so manipulated to care about a green bubble…I have an iPhone and do no use this much this feature

[TomNook.]

Monopolies are never a good thing. Especially with near complete American dominance in consumer hardware and software services.

[robithevampire]

been an android guy all my life, I use both an android and an iPhone . its all about status symbol, the camera and the iPhone is so much faster and very responsive to be honest only downside really is its battery life and access to so many apps. still prefer android over all things

[esbi]

Buying through instalments helps as well. You can drag the payment up to four years in my country.