[pswenson]

I love it when people throw in "clearly" to their claim. Despite your claim - it isn't "clearly irrelevant".

if their market share is so tiny, why is anyone reading this story on HN?

in the US, iOS isn't irrelevant, Apple has 40% smartphone market share and rising.

[gibwell]

People are reading this because despite a small market share, Apple is more successful than any other PC, Tablet, or Phone maker.

It's easy to point to rising market share less than one month after an annual product release. If it wasn't rising at that point they'd be in Blackberry territory. Typically, Apple is presented as having a losing strategy, and the current market share in the US is regarded as a anomaly that will quickly be corrected as 'Good Enough' Android phones such as the Nexus series or Galaxy S4 are recognized as being equivalent.