[simonh]

You mean how their margins in iPods and phones and desktop computers have .... er ... What was your point again?

[danmaz74]

No I mean how their share of the profits in phones have come down. profits != margin

[melange]

Share is pretty much meaningless, and assumes a zero sum game of direct competition.

[danmaz74]

I only cited it because it was a favorite argument when Android started to grow in the smartphones space - "but Apple gets almost all the profits"...

[melange]

That is true. And is clearly true in the tablet space too (as well as PCs). It's just a lot more nuanced in both directions.

Android can have higher unit share and 'inferior' products while Apple can have higher profit share and the 'best' (single inflexible) product, almost indefinitely because they are satisfying different needs.

Which raises the question: where is there actual competition?

Clearly Samsung and Apple are competing for some of the same customers, but the overlap is small compared to the overall market.

[danmaz74]

Yes, and I have no problem with that. I don't wish Apple to fail - I just don't want it to dominate the market alone.

[melange]

Given that Apple are nowhere near doing that and don't seem to be even going for that, why is that even a concern?

We have far more of a problem with Google in that regard, who do absolutely dominate search, and have clearly stated their wish to unseat Apple in order to have total dominance of mobile too.