Perhaps Apple’s hardware is unmatched in part because they profit from it by using the very mechanisms you don’t like. The engineering resources to focus on perfect hardware aren’t cheap. There is plenty of junk hardware out there that gives you more freedom.
If having good hardware means spending a lot on hardware development, then the price of the hardware can reflect that, rather than being subsidized by unrelated business segments.
I am sorry this is a total fabrication - we know the sales of iPhones entirely cover all expenses associated with hardware manufacturing and R&D.
Their margins on laptops are thinner but the AppStore is not as relevant there.
The situation is the other way round - it’s the App Store that makes the iPhone useful. Windows Phone (the remake one) had good hardware, it literally was killed by lack of apps. I had one, I miss it.
Epic? Which never released the Unreal Engine for Windows Phone and now cries the loudest about the status quo.
Or the 1000’s of developers who abandoned pre App Store distribution models in favor of Apple’s hardware, software and APIs, happily signed up to 30% revenue share with Apple that didn't change in 15 years? (other than go down to 15% for 90% of sellers who do under a million of annual revenue)
MICROSOFT played the hugest part in Windows Phone demise. I still had a Palm Pre at the time and was waiting for a particular yellow Nokia Windows Phone to release for Sprint. My recollection is muddy after that but Windows Phone was no more so I got an iPhone.
Possibly, but at the time Windows Phones were snappier and often had better hardware than Android.
For me, developers played a huge part.
There were a lot of popular and new apps missing in the windows store.
Microsoft had to even co-fund app developers to build apps for windows phone, without much luck or being too late.
E.g. Instagram for Windows released 18 months after Android. Did YouTube ever release on windows phone?
This played a big part in people choosing iOS/Android instead.
I haven’t looked into this for years, but that’s my recollection of early/mid 2010s.
The Verge seems to confirm my historic bias:
> If you’re wondering why none of Microsoft’s many strenuous Windows Phone efforts ultimately paid off, the key answer lies in the platform’s chronic failure to attract third-party app developers. Every time Nokia launched a new Windows Phone, it had to dodge and duck the question of when there’ll be an Instagram app for the OS. Even as Microsoft was beating Google at providing a smoother and slicker first-party app experience, Google was winning handily in having the more essential apps and the more enthusiastic third-party ecosystem.
> E.g. Instagram for Windows released 18 months after Android. Did YouTube ever release on windows phone?
You just unlocked a memory for me. I totally forgot that IG was never released for Windows Phone. Damn.
I rescind my previous comments, you're absolutely right. I think they could have a better go at it, this time. It's not Ballmer's Microsoft anymore (FWIW, I enjoyed aspects of his era).
