11.07.

2014
Skopje, Macedonia

Market share comparison between Android and Apple OS

Apple and Google are very commonly compared using different metrics, without
clear understanding of the meaning of these metric units. In this report, we are
going to examine for of the most popular metrics and based on them we will
derive certain conclusions about how these two companies stand in the world
market.

One of the most obvious choice of metrics when comparing the success of two
companies is their annual revenues. On the diagram shown above we can see
the quartile income of Apple and Google for the years 2012 and 2013.

Another important parameter used for comparing is the stock value of the
companies on the world market. Even though this gives us an important view of

the companys standings, we should be careful with our assumptions because

the stocks market may vary even in short period of time. Nevertheless on the
picture shown above we can see and compare the standings on the market and
conclude that for the period of the years 2012 and 2013, Apple has a bigger
stock value, but as the diagram nears the end of the 2013, the difference is
beginning to decline, all because Google has a stable increase in its value.

Another important data that shows the popularity of a mobile technology over
another is the number and size of web access. With that in mind, we can see
clearly from the diagram above that iOS has the upper scale.

The last type of metrics that is commonly used to compare two

companies/technologies is the number of devices that have the OS installed.
When it comes to mere numbers, Android surpasses iOS substantially all because
that Android is used on wide range of devices and by different hardware
companies.
All that in mind, until recently the difference between iOS mobile devices and the
vast number of companies that manufacture Android based mobile devices and

tablets was easy to describe: The largest variety of people can afford cheaper
Android devices, but the majority of the income from mobile devices belonged to
Apple. The iPhone and iPad users downloaded more applications, paid for more
expensive apps and were much more profitable target group for mobile
marketing and bought more stuff in average than the average Android user.
But the data coming for the past period is showing that Apple is on the verge of
being surpassed on the market by Android in terms of income. This change
partially explains why Google wants to create Android Silver class of superior
smart phones with the big manufacturers so it can eliminate the superiority of
the iPhone in terms of platform quality and the wealth of its users.
According to data from mobile ad company Opera Mediaworks, Android users are
now for the first time a greater percentage of users seeing mobile ads than Apple
users are.
While Apple is still ahead in the monetization of those users, its lead is shrinking
there also. Here are Operas market share numbers, based on 64 billion ad
impressions served to 500 million consumers:
Percent of traffic:
Android 42.83% (up from 31.26%)
iOS 38.17% (down from 44.53%)
Percent of revenue:
iOS 52.7% (up from 49.23%)
Android 33.46% (up from 26.72%)
If we follow these analysis, we can come to a conclusion that at this stage, the
two companies have technologies that are nearly at the same level of popularity
and profitability (especially regarding the app developers).Its worth mentioning
here is the information that in terms of smartphones, Android holds the market
with a staggering 70% of the world market, while Apples cut is 21%. In terms of
number of applications available on the market - they have approximately the
same number of applications, but in terms of quality, Apple has the upper hand.
Another important data that doesnt benefits Android is the information that the
Android market is much more exposed to malware and other types of malicious
software.

Prices review and opportunities for developers on the both systems

Nowadays, iOS and Android are the two biggest mobile platforms on the market.
Each of these OS comes with its own advantages and disadvantages, so it seems
confusing to the investor which path he should decide to follow. Whilst the
debate for a better mobile operative system continues with increasing pace,
theres the analysis of iOS App Store against Google Play in terms that concern
the app developers.

iOS App Store

Selling their app via the Apple App Store is beneficial to developers, as it gives
them a lot more visibility than any other app marketplace. The app, once it is
approved by the App Store, stands a good chance of being promoted via multiple
channels on the store, such as being featured on the Popular App category, App
of the Week category and so on.
While the initial registration fee is reasonable, the returns are also high, as the
developer gets 70 percent of the sales of the app. This makes it easier for the
app developer to make a profit from the sales of his or her app. The returns
would become substantially higher if the app got popular with the masses.
Though the app approval process is long-drawn-out at the Apple App Store, the
plus side is that the efficient app review team gives the developer a clear idea as
to why his or her app has been subjected to rejection. This, while seemingly
annoying for developers, is ultimately to their benefit, as it hones their own skills
of mobile app development.:

iOS Developer Program ($99/year)

Select this program if you would like to distribute apps on the App Store as an
individual, sole proprietor, company, organization, government entity or
educational institution.

iOS Developer Enterprise Program ($299/year)

Select this program if you would like to develop proprietary apps for internal
distribution within your company, organization, government entity or
educational institution

iOS Developer University Program (Free)

Select this program if you are a degree granting, higher education institution
that would like to introduce iOS development into your curriculum
The biggest problem for app developers is to get their app approved at the iOS
App Store. This is the process that takes the maximum amount of time.
Sometimes, apps are rejected for the slightest errors and this can prove to be
very frustrating for the app developer, who has a certain idea about the exact
way his or her app is designed and should function.
After an app has been approved by the Store, the bigger challenge that the
developer faces is to achieve and maintain enough visibility to make a decent
profit out of its sales, month after month. The level of competition is very high,
with newer apps coming in every single day. Each and every category is
saturated with apps and so, developers find it difficult, if not impossible, to make

their app stand out from the rest. Of course, this problem is common to all other
app stores as well.

Google Play Store

The app submission process stipulated by Google Play is much less tedious than
the iOS App Store. The app developer also enjoys more freedom as concerns the
general editorial content of his or her apps.
Once an app is live on the Google Play Store, the developer can then proceed
toward building his own customer base and raise a successful business with his
app, provided of course, that the app does offer a certain utility value to the
customer.
The initial cost of registration is only $25, which makes it much more affordable
to the developer to submit apps to this marketplace.
The freedom of editorial content that the Google Play Store offers can sometimes
prove to be a bane to app developers, as they do not get the guidance that the
iOS App Store provides to its developers.
The highly fragmented Android platform further complicates the issue for the app
developer. This aspect, combined with the fact that Android developers are
pretty much on their own for setting up their business, makes it very difficult for
inexperienced developers to achieve success in this app marketplace.
Most of the apps on the Google Play Store are free apps. Not only that, it has
been seen that Android users generally prefer to download free apps; as against
iOS users, who do not mind paying up for good apps. This inevitably forces the
developer to think of alternative ways to make money on his or her app.
Last but not least important thing about these technologies is the development
environment. Even thou there are alternative ways, generally speaking the
official way for developing iOS applications requires for the developer to have a
Mac operative system, Xcode and iOS SDK and the language is built on versions
of C and Objective-C, as for Android all you need is Eclipse and Android SDK ( the
language is Java).