Si Shen

[Commentary] My iPhone- and Mac-wielding friend from the US had been eager to make the jump to Android. She was willing to defect from Apple to join in on the Xiaomi hype, so I purchased an Mi3 for her.

After one week, I nudged her for feedback, and her response shocked me: “I’m going to get the iPhone 6 when it comes out. Android is too complicated.”

Her feedback hints at the core of why Apple’s operating system, despite iOS fatigue setting in, continues to hold its ground in the US while the rest of the world has embraced Android.

Speculation suggests that Apple’s closed ecosystem is slowly losing to Android on the back of Android’s commanding 78.1 percent global market share, according to the IDC. In the global market, iOS accounts for just 17.6 percent. However these same metrics within the US market size up a stronger competitor: iOS accounts for 41.6 percent of the US market, with a 1.2 percent gain in Q4 2013 compared to Android’s 51.5 percent share.

[Shen, Co-Founder and CEO, AppFlood]