[bearcobra]

There's been quite a bit of discussion on how WeChat is basically the OS of Chinese smartphone users, so as long as a phone runs that the switching costs are pretty low. I wonder if there's the possibility of something similar happening in the US/West. I've been tempted to try Android but Facetime & iMessage are pretty good at keeping me on iOS.

[rconti]

That happened with the web, ironically helping Apple's 'desktop' marketshare. To a large extent, this has always been the case with mobile (particularly if you want to think back to pre-app iOS, where the only lock-in was perhaps with iTunes music).

Personally, iMessage and shared iPhoto galleries between a dozen family members around the globe make it fairly "sticky" with me, but there's no reason I couldn't just consume the photos on desktop.

I'm not sure I have much of a point here, but I don't think the switching costs have ever been all that high with mobile, and since the popular platforms are pretty mature, most 'necessary' apps are cross-platform.

[Marsymars]

> Personally, iMessage and shared iPhoto galleries between a dozen family members around the globe make it fairly "sticky" with me, but there's no reason I couldn't just consume the photos on desktop.

Just last night I re-evaluated the various photo services that were of most interest to me (Apple Photos, Google Photos, OneDrive, Amazon Photos), and settled on Apple Photos. As a macOS/Windows/Android user, who is normally pretty aggressively platform-agnostic I see abandoning mobile access to my photo library as the least-bad option available.

[threeseed]

WeChat is definitely popular but it isn't everything.

Chinese users also buy apps, take photos, watch movies, listen to music, create content. All of which on iOS is tied to the Apple services ecosystem and hence the switching costs are still significant.

[taobility]

I agree with buy apps, but not the rest. There are lots of local content providers, like Tencent Music, Tecent Video, iQiyi, Netease Music, Youku, which provides music/video streaming service with much better localized content.