this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023
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Nearly 9 in 10 US teenagers use an iPhone, spelling disaster for Google's mobile future

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[–] Hubi@feddit.de 20 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Why are iPhones so popular in the US compared to Europe? Is it a peer pressure kind of thing? Or simply status? The difference seems to be pretty substantial and I don't think it can be explained by user experience alone.

iPhones have a 58% (US) vs 26% (EU) market share.

[–] sergih@feddit.de 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (25 children)

I think it has to do with the messagin app. For some reason in the us it's still common to use plain sms messages, which on an iPhone get translated to the blue bubble, but when sent to an android become the infamous green bubble.

This is however not the case in the EU bc sms messages were still expensive enoughfuring that time that when whatsapp released, everyone did the switch so as to not to pay the sms fees, and now, even if sms are basically free, everyone uses whatsapp as the default messaging app.

And as we know on whatsapp there's no differentiation of anything regarding the device you are sending messages to, so no constant reminder of "this guy had an android".

Just my 2 cents on why this could be.

[–] Hyperreality@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago

which on an iPhone get translated to the blue bubble but when sent to an android become the infamous green bubble.

The interesting thing is that the green/blue bubble thing is only infamous in the US.

As you say, outside the US, people use messaging apps like whatsapp or wechat.

[–] hushable@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

off topic, by any chance are you using Jerboa? ses like your comments is missing some spaces and I suspect it might be a bug with the app

[–] Blaster_M@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

It is a bug with Jerboa, it don't play nice with autocomplete / autocorrect underlines.

[–] sergih@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago

Yes! Wow it has to do with the app? I was going crazy, yes when I delete a word it shifts back and joind with the last word, it drives me nuts, are they planning on fixing it? Or do you recommend me another app?

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[–] IDontHavePantsOn@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

While other commenters are correct about the marketing in some aspects. As a parent of teenagers I will say if they don't have an iPhone they will be mocked relentlessly. The whole bubble color thing is real. They think androids are for poor people even though androids have a much larger range of price. This isn't a "my kids" thing. This is a "everyone in school thinks" thing.

God help me when they get their next upgrade and suddenly my chargers start going missing because "someone stole" theirs...

[–] 768@sh.itjust.works 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They think androids are for poor people

So it boils down to classism among youths and in schools?

[–] sour@kbin.social 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Chariotwheel@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No, no, blame the children.

We, the current adults, are not at fault for the situation. It's others. Older adults, or the young people. It's only us who is enlightened, everyone else is fucking stupid.

[–] sederx@programming.dev 2 points 1 year ago

this is the same excuse i hear for people circumcising their kids.

are us people so weak to peer pressure?

[–] Jackcooper@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Apple is headquartered in America and used a lot of marketing with celebrities, musicians, trendsetters etc.

Samsung is really popular in Asia. There's something to be said for homefield advantage.

[–] ALostInquirer@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What's the carrier situation like in the EU? Do they market the iPhone aggressively in Europe? I'd suspect both of those may have some influence on the difference, but I'm as interested as you in what's affecting the differences in adoption between both regions.

[–] beta_tester@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Heavy marketing in europe

[–] vanderbilt@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (5 children)

RCS has failed to take over the market, creating a strong preference for iMessage. Additionally, iPhones just work. The curated App Store means far less malware and buggy crap apps. Pile on the social aspects and few people under 25 are going for iPhones.

[–] D1G17AL@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You sound like every cringe teenager worried about the status of blue or green messages. Cringe bro. Just absolutely cringe.

[–] vanderbilt@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Frankly I don't care. I use a mixture of both ecosystems. I'm not going to deny reality either and pretend that the average American in their target demographics doesn't. I find it disappointing that as soon as anyone points out something someone else doesn't like others go straight to attacking the person and not the point. The real cringe is taking the sides of companies that don't care about you beyond the revenue you bring them.

[–] sour@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

ecosystem

.,_.

[–] MudMan@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

I don't know what RCS even is.

We all just use Whatsapp here, both on iPhone and Android. If you bought an iPhone for some reason and tried to text people through iMessage you'd get laughed out of the room.

Also, holy crap, how long has it been since you looked at the Play Store? Is that narrative about Android still running in the US? I legitimately hadn't heard that one in years.

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[–] sour@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

but no revanced

[–] Hubi@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That doesn't explain the difference in market share. Seems like there are cultural differences.

[–] vanderbilt@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

It might be, and given the States' rather unique culture I have a feeling it's a big contributor other factors notwithstanding.

[–] sederx@programming.dev 2 points 1 year ago

Additionally, iPhones just work.

just like any android phone...