The main market (and the big money) is where the users are. To claim anthing else is ridiculous. It’s easier to make money creating software for Windows than it is for the Mac. That’s why there are at least ten times more program developers for the Windows platform. Apple is on a run right now (a run that started with the ipod, which came at a point when the company was about to close down the shop altogher; contrary to the authors fantasies, Apple was NOT making a lot of money 10-12 years ago…).

If it’s all about developing for small platforms with high income users, the author should start making apps for the Blackberry. The average income of the BB user is way above your typical college student iphone user. Moreover, the author seems to think that ALL Android phones will be $100 phones. That’s just plain stupid. Just because you CAN buy a Windows computer for 1/3 of the price of a Mac doesn’t mean that there are no high-end PCs out there. Just as you can buy yourself a high-spec Alienware PC laptop for twice the price of a Mac, you will still be able to buy high-spec $400 Android phones in the future. That there will be low priced alternatives will not affect the high-end Android market any more than Hyundai car sales are affecting BMW’s high-end market share. The vast majority of the world’s population use PC (rich AND poor) and the vast majority of the population is also likely to eventually end up with Android (rich AND poor).

It’s all repeating itself. Like the old PPC Macs, the iphone is relatively low-spec (compare the ip4 specs with the new Nokias for example), but it does run a great OS. There is no doubt that Apple makes a better operationg system than Android, just as MacOS 7.1 was a much better OS than Windows 3.1 back in 1990s. However, the high price for ONE rather lame phone with no options will be the end of the platform. Some people want a qwerty keyboard, others may want a better camera, dual SIM, a replacable battery, etc. People have different needs, but there is only one iphone.

Take this example: the future market for smart phones is in Asia. How many iphones do you see there? The problem is that all the restrictions imposed by Apple on the iphone makes the excellent OS worthless to the average Asian user. The Japanese, Koreans and the Chinese have no interest in the iphone because they already make much better phones themselves, and they need to be able to put their own software on their phones, or nobody will buy them (e.g. Asian character recognition). The iphone works great in the US (which has always been the company’s main market), but without a more global vision the platform will not be able to compete with the more open Android platform. In the end, the iphone apps will grow old, and the users will grow bored, and the iphone will become the Apple Newton. A solid but somewhat boring product that very few people will use.