back to article Apple's GOLDEN BLING MOBE still the top selling US handset

Apple's blinged-up iPhone 5s is still the top selling phone in America, new stats have revealed. According to data released by analysts at the investment bank Canaccord Genuity, the 5s is the most in demand phone among customers at the top four wireless carriers for the third month in a row. Stats show the iPhone 5s is the …

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  1. jai

    Wot no Peak Apple header?

    It's been a couple of weeks now since an Apple article on El Reg had the smug "PEAK Apple" subheading on it.

    What happened El Reg? Did the stats and charts and trends turn against you?

    1. SuccessCase

      Peak Hamill

      Especially since Apple only sell 50% of iPhones through independent suppliers. The rest the sell through the Apple Store. Samsung sell almost all their handsets through independent suppliers. So the fact it is the top selling phone in these stores and the 5C is in two out of 4 as well, is actually quite stunning. No wonder Samsung have been holding Galaxy S4 sales crisis meetings (having said that, they are still doing better than everyone other than Apple of course).

      Also 75% market share of the Japanese phone market, continuing to take market share off Android in the US the UK as well and all the rumours indicate a deal has been inked with China mobile. Yes the statistics have are showing remarkable resilience in Apple handset growth and as developed nations markets have become saturated, customer switching intention is proving a decisive factor resulting in more users switching to iOS from Android than from iOS to Android. Check out Asymco, Horace Dediu has been excellent and deep analysis of the factors at play.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Peak Hamill

        When the The Reg started adding the "peak Apple" subtitle on their stories, it wasn't because they thought Apple had peaked, it was because page views for their Apple stories had peaked and they needed an angle to get them back up :)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Choice

      It's the drug dealers phone of choice, followed by the empty headed minor celebrities, and gangsta wannabes.

      If you want to stand out from the crowd now..... Buy a Blackberry.

      1. JeffyPoooh
        Pint

        Re: Choice

        The 5s is the top selling phone because it's so rare and exclusive.

        Oh... Hmmm.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Wot no Peak Apple header?

      And Apple give SOLD numbers whereas everyone else gives SHIPPED.

      With they also published RETURNED as heard a lot of people are returning their Samsung sWatch - oops better not call it that...

  2. DJO Silver badge
    Holmes

    Shock news

    The world (+ dog) was stunned today to learn that many Americans have no taste.

    Later in the news: Water is Wet!

    1. Toothpick

      Re: Shock news

      "The world (+ dog) was stunned today to learn that many Americans have no taste."

      I know!! Some still buy Samsung.

      1. DJO Silver badge

        Re: Shock news

        It was a reference to the gaudy casing, not specifically what was within the casing.

  3. Shagbag

    "in America"

    I'd be shocked if it wasn't.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The iPhone is clearly the phone people want - people buy others due to price but at the same price who would...

    1. John 104

      @AC

      Oh I don't think so. I have an S4 that I bought on purpose. Far more powerful than any Apple kit. And a screen that you can actually read without glasses...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Don't think you will find the S4 is 'far more powerful than any Apple kit' - yes it has a larger screen but it needs it to run that huge battery it also needs. Personally (for me) a phablet is a compromise - I'd rather have a phone small and light enough and a tablet with a much larger screen. YMMV.

        1. John 104

          Arguring on the internet! ;)

          I find that the large battery is pretty freaking nice. I can go 2 days with light use, 1.5 with heavy. Runs everything I need without lag, great display, good fit for my eyes. What more is there to want? Also, it isn't that heavy. At 4.59oz, it is a mere half an ounce heavier than the iPhone. Not much to complain about there. Oh, and I can put an SD in it and have as much storage as I want without paying a bull shit premium for it thank you very much.

          1. JeffyPoooh

            @john 104

            If you sleep indoors where there is electricity, then the battery is optimally sized if it lasts precisely 16 hours. If it lasts 1.5 or 2.0 days, then it's too big.

            The other factor is that iPhones tend to have multi-GB data plans, so they use *a lot* more mobile data.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            It's like arguing a V8 muscle car against a Ferrari - oh the muscle car has a huge engine (battery - as it needs it) and is big (as it has to be) - drinks fuel and handles like cr*p - but makes a nice noise...

            The iPhone is phone sized and has very good battery life as it's efficient rather that just chucking a larger battery and making it bigger and heavier. The iPhone works well (without all the bloatware often installed on Samsungs). Samsung are so keen on phablets as it's the only way to keep up with CPU performance (oh sorry no 64bit - yet!) as they need a big battery. Slight consolation is you get a bigger screen but I'd rather a smaller / lighter 'phone'.

            1. Internet ToughGuy

              @anon - do you work for Apple marketing, or just swallow everything they say?

              The in an effort to justify the bigger screen still being smaller than the majority of phones, they brought out their "size of your thumb" ad, to show how the phone was designed for use with one hand. Oddly enough, every other ad they've ever brought out shows the phone being used with two hands, as people tend to do.

              The iPhone 5 might be outselling every other single model of phone, but these figures are skewed by the lack of choice offered by Apple/ abundance of different android models. Android is still outselling IOS, and the gap is increasing year-on-year.

              The simple truth is that the brand fans don't care that their phone doesn't have NFC. They will tell you how handy the fingerprint reader is, even though Motorola offered one in their phones in January 2011, and the fans didn't see the need for it then. The fanbois talk about the design elegance. It's not just a slightly stretched iPhone 4 at all, they seem to think. The iPhone 5c looks almost exactly like the Nokia Lumia 620, but the latter didn't carry the all-important apple on the cover.

              It's fine if you're an Apple fanboi. But you're trying to convince people that you went out, evaluated everything on the market, and found the phone that had the best weight, the best size, the best features etc, when in all honesty, if Apple released a phone next year that was bigger and heavier, you'd start posting about how flimsy the competition was. If you want to get yourself an iPhone 7 right now, just get the HTC one or the Galaxy s4, and turn off all the good features. Then in a few years, when Apple "invent" swipe-typing, smartstay screens, NFC etc, you can turn them on and get yourself a free upgrade. All you need now is to find yourself a sticker with an Apple logo on it, so you can still gain acceptance amongst your peers.

          3. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            You will find 'bull shit' is actually bullshit (in the context you were using) - but at least you can put a (micro) SD card in it - phew.

            Reviews of the iPhone I've seem show it's battery life to be about 40-50% better than the S4 in heavy use - so not sure your idea of heavy use is as neither would run for 1.5 days and not what I would consider heavy use. Also the A7 processor in the iPhone 5S is both faster and 64bit than the S4. Fingerprint sensor is useful.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          A small and light phone haha! Guffaw!

          How come every single nob jockey I see walking around with that little brick of an apple has in the other pocket a correspondingly much larger battery pack. They look like their little phones are forever on life support.

          My note 3 and gear last forever and the screen is wow.

          1. JeffyPoooh
            Pint

            Re: A small and light phone haha! Guffaw!

            @terra...

            One reason is that Apple iPhone people tend to have actual multi-gigabyte monthly data plans, as compares to the typical thrifty Android people that typically don't.

            My coworkers with Androids peak (!) at 400 MB per month. Me and my iPhone have 6 GB. They constantly interrupt me at work, while I'm endlessly listening to streaming audio, to borrow my hotspot because they're nearly out of data.

            This observation is backed up by the fact that iPhones swamp Android in the amount of mobile data actually consumed.

            Android users are also a bit fat because they spend so much time sitting around in overpriced coffee shops using free wifi and drinking 1200 calorie Uber Grand Frappa whatever.

            PS: your Note 3 may have been unexpectedly region locked and tends to fake the benchmark performance. Evil scum.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: A small and light phone haha! Guffaw!

              "They constantly interrupt me at work, while I'm endlessly listening to streaming audio"

              Cos they know you are a soft touch and easy to exploit - you bought an iPhone after all.

              Oh, and turn your phone off and get on with your work.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        ... but unfortunately too big to put in a pocket

      3. Richard Scratcher

        Speak for yourself

        "And a screen that you can actually read without glasses…"

        I can read an iPhone's screen without glasses.

        Now if I could only drive a car without glasses or watch TV or focus on a cinema screen or see the number on a bus in time to signal its driver...

      4. the-it-slayer

        "Far more powerful than any Apple kit. And a screen that you can actually read without glasses..."

        It's not a book, it's a phone. And the PPI is very similar, so invalid case already. Unless you're blind of course, which you might be...

    2. Steve Knox

      I would if I could...

      My wife just got a Samsung Galaxy S3 mini on contract. It makes the iPhone 5/5S look like a clunky piece of crap: it's lighter, easier to hold, runs better-looking software on a better-looking screen more smoothly.

      If my work allowed Android phones, I'd switch to one in an instant.

      1. Alexis Vallance

        Re: I would if I could...

        It's lighter because it's made of flimsy plastic

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I would if I could...

        No it doesn't Steve. You are obviously a fanboi, so anything else looks like a 'clunky piece of crap' in your eyes. That and you have no taste. Also, a little bit of a saddo.

  5. Oh Homer
    Headmaster

    Total lack of any actual numbers noted

    Also, this is only the skewed Mercan market, assuming these non-existent figures are to be believed at all. Worldwide, Android has crushed the iPhone with 81% of the market.

    1. Ted Treen

      @Oh Homer...Re: Total lack of any actual numbers noted

      Pure sophistry.

      Try comparing like with like:- unless you think Ferrari are finished, because they're totally outsold by entry-level models from Kia & Hyundai inter alia

      1. Oh Homer
        Headmaster

        Re: @Oh Homer...Total lack of any actual numbers noted

        Except in this analogy the metaphorical Ferrari is regularly outsold by the Lamborghini, not just Kias and Hyundais.

        And actually I find the comparison between Ferrari and the iPhone laughable. It's more like an Edsel resprayed to look like a Ferrari.

        But even that isn't the most significant point, which is that this dubious, unsubstantiated "analysis" has clearly been cherry-picked (if not fabricated outright) to favour Apple, even though the reality, as it pertains to the vast majority of people, is very, very different. None of those people really care who manufactures their phone, they only care that it runs Android, much as most PC users don't care who makes their PC, they only care that it runs Windows (or in my case GNU/Linux).

        The analysis itself is sophistry, which is why it requires some disentanglement and counter-propaganda that you might easily mistake for sophistry.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: @Oh Homer...Total lack of any actual numbers noted

        The iPhone is not a Ferrari; the nearest car equivalent is possibly BMW, except that they have a lot more platforms. Now, comparing a BMW to a Hyundai or a Kia is interesting. The Koreans are a significant long term threat to the German and Japanese manufacturers, because they may imitate, but they are getting better and better at it. My feeling is that in a few years BMW and Mercedes are going to feel a very cold draught up the spine of their midrange offerings.

        There is no phone equivalent to a Lamborghini or a Ferrari, because top end silicon needs to be mass produced, whereas top end IC engines don't, and because there is no body of advanced knowledge derived from phone racing that makes it possible to build a phone which outperforms an iPhone (or a Note 3 for that matter). Things like Vertu have expensive shells housing decidedly midrange internals. Imagine a thing that looked like a Porsche 911 and had a Ford 1.4 litre supermini engine, while we're following the analogy.

    2. ManxPower

      Re: Total lack of any actual numbers noted

      "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

      You can tell which platform a person likes by the question they ask. Android fans ask the question "Which has more market share, Android or iOS?" and Apple fans ask the question "Which has more market share, Apple, Samsung, Motorola, or <insert vendor here>?" The answer to the first question seems to be Android, the answer to the second seems to be Apple.

      Regardless of which platform you prefer, competition between the two is good.

    3. JeffyPoooh

      Re: Total lack of any actual numbers noted

      Toyota sells more boring and tedious transportation appliances than Mercedes sells cars.

      That doesn't make them better.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Total lack of any actual numbers noted

        "Toyota sells more boring and tedious transportation appliances than Mercedes sells cars."

        Having driven both, I can say that post is an example of the problem. It's confused about the function of cars.

        To me, the amount of tedium in driving up the M5/M6 for 5 hours is the same in almost any vehicle that can stay in the outside lane when necessary. For 99% of the mileage I do, it's better to be safe and bored than experiencing any kind of excitement.

        My old E class was safe and boring, so is my current Toyota. And that's how I like it. I also prefer to be surrounded by people who are safe and bored, not people who think that the national transport system needs dick-headed drivers to liven it up.

        I'm sure there's a phone analogy in there somewhere.

  6. csumpi
    WTF?

    so stupid

    This is just so freaking stupid, it's not even funny.

    Comparing a manufacturer that has one high end phone (5s) to other manufacturers that have multiple (for example S4 and Note3).

    Show us numbers that matter. Total sales per manufacturer, or at least combined sales of top end phones per manufacturer. Or how about combined sales of top end phones per operating system?

    Oh wait, that would attract far less fanpuss clicks.

  7. Steven Roper

    Not surprised at all

    considering that Apple's modus operandi is to get any competing handsets banned on whatever pathetic patents they can sling around. Of course your figures are going to show you're the market leader when you've patent-trolled any competitors out of existence in your market area.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Not surprised at all

      Who was it was fined $15-billion by EU for patent abuse? More than $13-billion JPMorgan were fined for sub-prime activities?

      Samsung.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apple contracts require the US carriers to buy fixed quantities, there are no "buy as needed" supplier arrangement. Carriers actually have to paid for the phones that are being shipped by Apple, which permits Apple to claim these phones are sold. A clause in the contract limit carriers comments to positive, pro - Apple products with no actually numbers. Apple demands a specific image of their products and business relationship in the public and business world.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Age

    I'd love to know the average age of people here who are arguing that their choice of platform is best. I'm guessing the iPhone owners are around 16 years old while the Android owners are late 20s early 30s. I'm basing this assumption on the arguments, language used. The iPhone owners tend to be more religious in their outlook while the Android users are patiently trying to educate the young whipper-snappers to look farther than the end of their collective noses.

    I don't use Android, by the way.

    iPhone owners make me laugh though, they think they're so individual.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Age

      Sophistry. This thread is proof of it! Religiously fanatical fandroids everywhere.

      'I don't use Android, by the way.'

      Bullshit.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Trollface

        Re: Age

        I pooh-pooh your bullshit :P

  10. hoola Silver badge

    (a)Phone or (i)Phasion Accessory

    In this endless, pathetic statistics game that is manipulated by all sides, what appears to be overlooked is that to some, the device is a mobile phone, work tool etc. To others it is a fashion accessory and is priced accordingly. The interesting statistic that rarely gets mentioned, particularly by the Fanbois is activations and OS access to website. These are based on OS and will vary hugely between US, Europe and Asia. The US appears to have the obsession that Apple is American, in reality, like most tech companies, some R&D is local but everything else is outsourced or using pre-existing units. If Apple actually had the complete manufacturing chain in the US, I could understand it but this is not the case. It is manufactured as cheaply as possible & priced for what the market will stand. This is the same as many upmarket products (Amtico, Corian). Whilst people are prepared to pay the inflated prices, the profits just keep rolling in. One cannot criticize a company for generating profits, and unlike the utilities in the UK, most appear prepared to pay for the privilege of owning a product from a company that has a huge profit margin, pays little tax anywhere and uses Third World labour for manufacturing.

    Whilst Samsung uses the Far East for manufacturing, it is at least doing it mostly in its home market.

    The price of the contract is merely proportional to the raw cost of the device. You have to bung in loads of data to make it look attractive.

    It would be great to reach a point again where the mobile device:

    1, Operated for more than 24-36 hours between charges

    2, Was not so large that it no longer fitted in pockets

    3, Did not fall through said pocket becase it was so heavy

    4, Actually was able to make and receive phone calls in rural areas

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