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This Week In Mobile: Apple Maps is a Hit, Sort Of!

Bobby Gill | November 19, 2013

Apple Maps is a hit!

Whoa, how long have I been asleep?

Where am I?

If you can think back to the fall of 2012, you might remember Apple’s introduction of its Apple Maps software as the replacement for the Google Maps app that had been on the iPhone since its debut. To call Apple Maps launch merely a disaster would be an insult to the combined legacies of Rob Ford and Robert Mugabe.  Legions of iOS users were instantly left stranded and lost after they upgraded to iOS 6 and had Apple Maps thrust upon them. Humanity hasn’t suffered such a step back in progress since Alaric kicked in the doors of Rome in 410 AD.

Naturally, one might think the poor quality of the Apple Maps software would have had people flocking back to Google Maps when it released its own iPhone app a few months later. However, you’d be wrong.  According to comScore’s latest report, since the launch of Apple Maps in 2012, Google Maps marketshare has fallen off a cliff, dropping from 78% (~81 million daily users) down to 43% (~58.7 million daily users)  while Apple Maps has climbed up to 25.6% combined marketshare and over 50% on the iPhone! The surprising success of Apple Maps goes to show something that Microsoft has known for a long time now: success in the marketplace has little to do with the quality of the product, but rather control over the platform.

The Bell Tolls for the iPhone 5c?

Rumor has it that Apple’s Chinese supplier Foxconn is ending production of the slow selling iPhone 5c at one of its factories in favor of the iPhone 5s. While the iPhone 5s is an unquestioned hit with consumers, its redheaded step sister, the iPhone 5c, continues to struggle in the marketplace. Is it a budget phone? Is it a luxury item? These questions have plagued the iPhone 5c’s sales since its launch and created confusion in the market. Might the iPhone 5c’s struggles indicate  consumers have seen through Apple’s glitzy marketing efforts and spotted the iPhone 5c for what it truly is: just an iPhone 5 with a plastic cover?

Windows Phone: The Little Smartphone Platform That Could

 

While the iPhone 5c struggles, Microsoft’s Windows Phone continues its slow climb in global marketshare. This week’s Gartner report shows that Windows Phone sales hit 8.9 million devices in Q3 2013 (3.6% marketshare), thats more than double the 4 million devices (2.6% marketshare) sold at the same time last year. Much of Windows Phone recent marketshare gains are happening in foreign markets such as Russia, India, Israel and Latin America, where Windows Phone has overtaken Apple’s iPhone to become the 2nd place smartphone platform.

Could we live to see Windows Phone crack the 5% global marketshare barrier?

I believe in miracles, do you?

Bobby Gill
Co-Founder & Chief Architect at BlueLabel | + posts

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