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To: NAG1 who wrote (147143)	12/20/2012 3:50:01 AM
From: Road Walker	1 Recommendation Respond to of 213176

When you start dividing the smartphone market into premium and regular smartphones I think you're splitting hairs. Not sure I know how to respond to that without specific definitions.

To: NAG1 who wrote (147143)	12/21/2012 4:16:47 PM
From: HerbVic	2 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213176

The market share statistic really gets too much emphasis in smartphones. Long ago, when Gates was young, market share mattered a great deal, as personal computers were stickier due to the steep learning curve and integration into daily lives of platform specific software. Also, there was the enterprise coefficient that dictated which platform would be most appropriate to a given user based on the choices made in some corporate meeting. In that environment, the share of the growing market was critical to the outcome at market maturity. With cell phones, yes there is a little stickiness with familiarity and software accumulation, but it is almost negligible. The reason for this is the software is tacky, not sticky. Literally! Most of the iPhone and Android software available is just junk. Some of it is single function tools, and a very few aps are what might be considered sticky. However, all are very inexpensive, as is the phone itself when bundled with a two year contract. Therefore, there is much more froth in platform ownership. For all of the reasons stated above, many smartphone owners are not in the least loyal to a specific brand. Apple has been able to create loyalty with their ecosphere of Macs, iPads and iPhones and iPod Touches, but many people buy iPhones and never get into that. Hence, when the 2 years are up, their eyes glaze over as they peruse the seemingly infinite number of choices in the market. But, market share for smartphones doesn't mean what it used to with personal computers, and the pundits have yet to council us on the new meaning inherent in the word.