Am I the only one that doesn’t see how Apple Watch drives iPhone sales? Surely it’s the other way around, right? Like who would switch to an iPhone just to use an Apple Watch when alternatives for Android exist?
I feel like this was a mistake. Steve Jobs once said releasing iTunes on Windows was like giving “a glass of water to someone in hell”. He was obviously joking, but if they managed to get android support with the Apple Watch as good as it is on iOS, I could definitely see people switching to iPhone just because their experience with their Apple Watch is a lot better than anything they’ve used before.
I hope that technical reasons were also behind this decision, because I don’t see how this effects iPhone sales long term
Smart watch comparisons almost always favor Apple Watch. For customers who want one, they have to get an iPhone. Plenty of consumers don’t give a shit about Android vs iOS and will switch the next time they’re due for an upgrade if it means they can also be able to use that fancy Apple Watch for the wellness watchers.
It’s because it further cements the user into their ecosystem.
Imagine you have only an iPhone, and you want a watch, you obviously go for the Apple Watch because it works so well with your phone. Next year Google announce a shiny new Pixel.
In the world where Apple Watch works only with iOS, you have an anchor keeping you in that ecosystem (you can switch, but you’d lose your watch), but if your watch worked with Android too…? now you’ve an out. You can dabble your toes in the Android waters, maybe you like it, maybe a couple more years down the line you switch to a Pixel watch.
Apple don’t monetise user data, they make appealing products that work cohesively together. The continued purchase of which, further bricks the user behind their walled garden. The trick of it is the user does it voluntarily, because they like the products. Start making things intercompatible though, that strategy becomes much weaker.
My ownership of an Apple Watch & other Apple products makes it so I’m very disincentivized to replace my iPhone with an Android.
So the Watch might not be a key reason I get the phone in the first place, but it’s part of what makes it so hard to leave the ecosystem once you’ve partaken in it.
Part of me wanting to switch back to iOS was to try using an Apple Watch. At the time Android Wear was limited to bad Qualcomm processors. Samsung and Google hadn’t committed to work together again.
You need to take one look at Android watches and WearOS to understand, just like the tablet market, android “alternatives” (if you can call them that) to Apple Watch are years and years behind.
Am I the only one that doesn’t see how Apple Watch drives iPhone sales? Surely it’s the other way around, right? Like who would switch to an iPhone just to use an Apple Watch when alternatives for Android exist?
I feel like this was a mistake. Steve Jobs once said releasing iTunes on Windows was like giving “a glass of water to someone in hell”. He was obviously joking, but if they managed to get android support with the Apple Watch as good as it is on iOS, I could definitely see people switching to iPhone just because their experience with their Apple Watch is a lot better than anything they’ve used before.
I hope that technical reasons were also behind this decision, because I don’t see how this effects iPhone sales long term
Smart watch comparisons almost always favor Apple Watch. For customers who want one, they have to get an iPhone. Plenty of consumers don’t give a shit about Android vs iOS and will switch the next time they’re due for an upgrade if it means they can also be able to use that fancy Apple Watch for the wellness watchers.
I’d definitely buy android if it supported apple watch
It’s because it further cements the user into their ecosystem.
Imagine you have only an iPhone, and you want a watch, you obviously go for the Apple Watch because it works so well with your phone. Next year Google announce a shiny new Pixel.
In the world where Apple Watch works only with iOS, you have an anchor keeping you in that ecosystem (you can switch, but you’d lose your watch), but if your watch worked with Android too…? now you’ve an out. You can dabble your toes in the Android waters, maybe you like it, maybe a couple more years down the line you switch to a Pixel watch.
Apple don’t monetise user data, they make appealing products that work cohesively together. The continued purchase of which, further bricks the user behind their walled garden. The trick of it is the user does it voluntarily, because they like the products. Start making things intercompatible though, that strategy becomes much weaker.
I purchased an iPhone because i wanted an Apple Watch. Fitbits just didn’t seem accurate to me.
My ownership of an Apple Watch & other Apple products makes it so I’m very disincentivized to replace my iPhone with an Android.
So the Watch might not be a key reason I get the phone in the first place, but it’s part of what makes it so hard to leave the ecosystem once you’ve partaken in it.
Enough people that Apple think it’s better to keep the watch as an iPhone-only accessory
It makes some people switch to iPhone so that they can have an Apple Watch
And it makes plenty of people stay with iPhone because they want to keep their Apple Watch.
You are in one ecosystem or the other, not both.
Part of me wanting to switch back to iOS was to try using an Apple Watch. At the time Android Wear was limited to bad Qualcomm processors. Samsung and Google hadn’t committed to work together again.
You need to take one look at Android watches and WearOS to understand, just like the tablet market, android “alternatives” (if you can call them that) to Apple Watch are years and years behind.