Is Android Cool?

[G+_Evan Black]

Is Android Cool?

 

Hey everyone. I would like to bring up something thats been on my mind for awhile. I work at a college university, day to day I see the students carrying mostly iPhone's (about 98%). This made me think with so much choice in the market why would someone choose the same device that everyone else has. Does Android need better marketing or are these student just not interested in Android, and when I do see a android device it's a Galaxy S device also most of the iPhones are 4 and 4s which make me think they are stuck in a contract and can't upgrade. I would like to hear you're guys option on this.

[G+_Robert Marshall]

Short of actually asking them, how can you tell the difference between the iPhone 4, 4s, 5 and 5s? I couldn't. Frankly, it's part mystique and mostly marketing. Apple has always been the "young and hip" trendy device out there, though there are other models out there just as good, if not better, when it comes to smartphones.

 

I will give them kudos when it comes to laptop design to the point that my next laptop will probably a MacBook Pro with Parallels installed so I can run Windows and Ubuntu applications.?

[G+_Joe Phelps]

IMO, iPhones are basically a fashion accessory. Non-techie college students want to have what their friends have.

[G+_Evan Black]

Robert Marshall So do you think Android OEM's need better marketing? Because I you cant sway them when they are young it going to be very hard changing them later.

[G+_Marlon Thompson]

I think this is a US centric issue in the Caribbean for example our students all love android mainly Samsung of course. I have spoken to a few and they see the iPhone as too expensive.

[G+_Evan Black]

Robert Marshall I just group the fpur phones into two categories. Iphone4&4s in one Iphone5&5s in the other

[G+_HeCareth M. Wosu]

Well I'm in California and I see just as many iPhones as everything else. They thing is the iPhone has a iconic look and they as a single device is more prevalent than any single Android handset. Apple has 40% market share in the US on about 4 devices. Android has 52% market share on hundreds of devices so of course you are going to see more I phones floating around.

[G+_Evan Black]

Joe Phelps I agree. But less not forget these kid are more techie then you think they are.

[G+_Evan Black]

Marlon Thompson Thanks for the other point of view I said the same thing myself when I first thought of it. Do you see any other OEM's beside Samsung that the students are using over there?

[G+_Joe Phelps]

Marlon Thompson Are you seeing high-end Android phones like the S 4?

[G+_Evan Black]

HeCareth M. Wosu  Ya that is true but that makes comsumer think that iPhone is the only phone and that what they should buy. Out of a day I can count on one hand how many Android devices I see on campus but I you look for 10 mins you would count 20-30 iPhone.

[G+_Evan Black]

S3&4 kind of hard to tell and like one One X. On a side note I seen Microsoft surfaces but yet to see one android tablet.

[G+_Marlon Thompson]

Evan Black mainly Samsung they have infiltrated the market hard in fact as far as many are concerned android is Samsung. Joe Phelps we see a variety but they lust for the S4 and Note .interestingly I see the S3 mini more and more

[G+_HeCareth M. Wosu]

Evan Black You may be right but the stats prove otherwise. So somebody out there is using them

[G+_Joe Phelps]

Marlon Thompson So the less expensive Android models are quite popular. Do you have subsidized phone plans available in your region?

[G+_Michael Conrad]

People buy iPhones because their friends and family have them. They don't really have any particular reason but because it's an iPhone. Android's problem is that many people think that Samsung is Android. I ran into a friend just today that had the Sony Xperia Z and she was gushing over it, saying that it could everything her friend's Android could do. I laughed and said, "What?". I asked if her friend's phone was a Samsung and she said yes. I smiled and told her that her phone is an Android. I explained to her that Android is Google's platform. It was like a light turned on in her head and she seemed excited about her phone like it was brand new again. It's all perception and Samsung is certainly waging a war on Apple and all the other OEMs.

[G+_Evan Black]

HeCareth M. Wosu Ya everytime I do see a iPhone im like with so many choices why would somebody pick the same phone that everyone else has, would you want the same car everyone has. Makes it feel like Ford in 1903. LOL

[G+_Evan Black]

Michael Conrad Wow that is crazy. I also ran into that same issue.

[G+_Gregory Soave]

I graduated in 2009 from college and blackberries were hot then. I'm now back in school and see a good mix of iPhones and galaxy brand phones. No where close to 98%

[G+_Ryan Standeven]

For the longest time... When I was selling these bloody things... Lots of people came in looking for an iPhone because that's all they knew about, it was a no brain-er to them. You either get a iPhone or you get a something else. And I think that's how apple wanted it positioned, there's the iPhone and then there's everything else.

I've always found that phone purchase behavior reflects the users values. For example, I would say a small chunk of android sales I made were the feature phones and the main pull to them was cost. Not always what the customer needs... But it's what they wanted.

[G+_John Buchmann]

Get a high end Android phone and you'll have a better phone than 98% of your school. No Brainer :-) ?

[G+_Evan Black]

John Buchmann I'm still rocking the GNex and it's still going strong

[G+_Marlon Thompson]

Joe Phelps we have the prepaid and post paid options, as an example in my country under the prepaid plan the S4 costs about $800US and under the post paid plan it cost about $700 US so not all that subsidized however the phones are unlocked and have no carrier bloatware and in the past I have received Android updates 2 -3 months before you guys in the states. . However some caveats, even with the post paid that you sign a contract for 1-2 years you can easily break it at any time with no penalty and buy a new phone. Also if you get a new phone you can simply swap out the sim card  and use it as I am planning to do with the Nexus 5. Blackberry is still a strong cheap option for many people but as I said earlier all the Blackberry people are going over to Samsung. Samsung has even set the regional office in my country of Trinidad and plan to open a couple of experience stores here as well as across the Caribbean. You can find HTC and LG phones in cell phone stores but they are few and far between in the wild. 

[G+_Joe Phelps]

Marlon Thompson Thanks for the info. I can see why all the flagship phones don't sell as well. I know I wouldn't pay $800 for a phone.

[G+_Robert Marshall]

Evan Black . That's a good question. Frankly, other than the Moto X and the Galaxy S3 (and S4) I don't think the manufacturers have promoted their products nearly enough, and that includes the HTC One, which I recently upgraded to. Instead, they seem to rely more on the carriers to do the heavy lifting. Then there's the "branding" campaign which Verizon ran, Droid. In the long run, I think that confused more people than it roped in. For instance, if someone walks into a Sprint Store and says they want to buy a Droid, a knee jerk reaction by the sales person might be "we don't sell Droids."

 

Apple has the self-imposed luxury of being the only game in town when it comes to promotion of IOS devices. That makes it easy for them. With Android, you've got Google, the carriers AND the manufacturers all having their own ways of marketing, and sometimes it's more against each other than the competition.