I see apple as like LVMH, but for phones. It has a minority of overall sales, but a majority of the “luxury” part of the market. This gives them influence over the whole market, but not a real monopoly.
replies(7):
Can tech fashion be its own market segment?
This is not meant to be an Android vs iOS debate. I am trying to point out that your perspective is incredibly dismissive of the real reasons iOS is gaining market share.
I do not know the real reasons, but I have heard 2 things repeated often:
1 -- the ability to work smoothly with other apple products, which is sort of a circular argument, but it makes it harder or costlier to switch away from apple, so could tend to increase market share.
2 - There were a ton of recent articles about teenagers being made to feel inferior for having an android phone instead of an iphone, which fits with the fashion aspect.
There are of course other reasons why people say they prefer iphone, but I find it difficult to distinguish what people think is better from what they are simply already accustomed to.