MMI to USB adapter for Samsung Galaxy
#11
Thank you for your insight. But I think that demographic is going to change going forward. I've been a loyal iPhone owner from day 1, but it's becoming clearer to me that S4 is a better phone for the money. I think the smart phone market is becoming analogous to PC market, where Android will dominate like Windows and iPhone will cling to diehards like Macs. I am making a jump to Samsung Galaxy S4 as soon as 32GB models become available and abandoning my iPhone. I'm sure I'm not going to be the only upper demographic user that is going to do the same.
Another thing I'm curious about is how Android is going to counter "Siri Eyes Free." If Google has its own version, and HTC has its own version and Samsung has its own, and Facebook, and Baidu, and Twitter... Again, that fragmentation is going to hurt.
I can see how Samsung's S* line may come to dominate (i.e. have such a large market share that manufacturers simply must pay attention to it). It's a totally different thing to say that "Android" will dominate. There are several hundred versions of Linux, but Linux will never dominate the desktop market because an application that runs well on Puppy Linux may not run at all on Fedora Linux, which may act weird on SuSe Linux or not have drivers for Ubuntu Linux. So, while there are a lot of Linux users, the fragmentation means that each variant has a tiny market and few companies care enough to write applications for all the small pockets of 5000 to 75,000 users. If you're lucky, you get support for the big ones like Ubuntu, RedHat and SuSe.
Windows has an advantage because you can write one application and have 500 million potential customers. That compares more favorably to iOS on iPhone/iPad than Android.
I'm curious of your opinions on Windows 8 and Windows Blue (8.1?). If businesses also begin to shift to tablets, and Windows RT/Windows 8 on tablets doesn't take off, Android will kill Windows long before it seriously threatens iOS.
I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how this will play out, and you seem "smarter than the average bear". Seriously, I'd love to know your opinion...buy you a beer if you're in the Bay Area...
#12
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
I'm curious of your opinions on Windows 8 and Windows Blue (8.1?). If businesses also begin to shift to tablets, and Windows RT/Windows 8 on tablets doesn't take off, Android will kill Windows long before it seriously threatens iOS.
I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how this will play out, and you seem "smarter than the average bear". Seriously, I'd love to know your opinion...buy you a beer if you're in the Bay Area...
I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how this will play out, and you seem "smarter than the average bear". Seriously, I'd love to know your opinion...buy you a beer if you're in the Bay Area...
#13
I believe that's beside the point. The issue is that nearly all iPhone owners within the appropriate age group are in the market for luxury cars. Android is more common, and will only become more common, but its typical users are unwilling to pay for apps and, though this may be changing, are far less likely to see high-end luxury cars as a worthwhile value proposition.
#14
AudiWorld Super User
Apple has never desired to play in the entry level end of the smartphone price points as do Android phone manufacturers, especially desirable in emerging markets, so it's doubtful ios will ever grow significant share. However, so long as iPhone sales continue to grow, I don't see Apple being too concerned about share any more than they have in the past, just the stuff you can take to the bank, which of course is profits.
Bottom line re Audi owners, I would guess that the higher end of the Android offerings and iPhones would both fit the demographic.
Last edited by snagitseven; 02-10-2014 at 04:28 AM.
#15
I believe that's beside the point. The issue is that nearly all iPhone owners within the appropriate age group are in the market for luxury cars. Android is more common, and will only become more common, but its typical users are unwilling to pay for apps and, though this may be changing, are far less likely to see high-end luxury cars as a worthwhile value proposition.
I would easily accept that the percentage of Nordstrom/Neiman Marcus shoppers who carry iPhones is at least 80%, approaching the low nineties. I would suspect that at least 60% of JC Penney shoppers carry Android phones
From InvestorPlace: "The average U.S. Mercedes-Benz owner has an income of about $175,000, and 28% of them have a four-year college degree. A 2011 Hunch poll of 15,818 users turned up some interesting clues in the Android vs. iPhone demographics. According to its results, an iPhone owner is 67% more likely to have a $200,000-plus annual household income and 37% more likely to have a graduate degree than someone who owns an Android smartphone."
If I were trying to sell an S class, I would do everything I could to suck up to the iPhone ecosystem, which is exactly what Audi, BMW and Mercedes are doing. Yes, there are a lot more Android users, but if they can't afford my product, it doesn't matter to me. Worse, any incremental effort I can put into the iPhone market is far more likely to get me that next sale than spending a much larger amount to get my Android support up to par. This means Android will continue to lag in features until the target audience more closely identifies with Android, even if there are 10x more Android phones.
Further, while the number of iPhone models is extremely small and I only need to work with one company to get a huge number of potential auto purchasers, the number of Android models is very large, with many OS versions, connectors and feature sets, spread amongst a monstrous number of manufacturers. This is called platform fragmentation. I would be afraid to say "works with Android" only to find that my customer's particular model of phone actually doesn't work well and now I'm being sued or forced to buy back a new car for breech of contract.
I say this as a member of the mobile development community, where nearly all Android contract app development is for free/social applications because (a) it's impossible to test your app on every Android model, (b) piracy of paid apps is near instantaneous, (c) very few Android users buy apps and (d) even with other business models, Android users are difficult to make money from since the Android target demographic tends to be poorer bargain hunters.
I develop for iOS, Android, WP8 and Blackberry, amongst others, so I don't have a horse in this race, and I'm not a fanboy. I'm just trying to provide insight. Depending on how Microsoft plays it, you may see a tightly-integrated WP8 AMI implementation sooner than an Android one. Maybe enough S4's will sell and Audi will invest in doing something special for Samsung...
I would easily accept that the percentage of Nordstrom/Neiman Marcus shoppers who carry iPhones is at least 80%, approaching the low nineties. I would suspect that at least 60% of JC Penney shoppers carry Android phones
From InvestorPlace: "The average U.S. Mercedes-Benz owner has an income of about $175,000, and 28% of them have a four-year college degree. A 2011 Hunch poll of 15,818 users turned up some interesting clues in the Android vs. iPhone demographics. According to its results, an iPhone owner is 67% more likely to have a $200,000-plus annual household income and 37% more likely to have a graduate degree than someone who owns an Android smartphone."
If I were trying to sell an S class, I would do everything I could to suck up to the iPhone ecosystem, which is exactly what Audi, BMW and Mercedes are doing. Yes, there are a lot more Android users, but if they can't afford my product, it doesn't matter to me. Worse, any incremental effort I can put into the iPhone market is far more likely to get me that next sale than spending a much larger amount to get my Android support up to par. This means Android will continue to lag in features until the target audience more closely identifies with Android, even if there are 10x more Android phones.
Further, while the number of iPhone models is extremely small and I only need to work with one company to get a huge number of potential auto purchasers, the number of Android models is very large, with many OS versions, connectors and feature sets, spread amongst a monstrous number of manufacturers. This is called platform fragmentation. I would be afraid to say "works with Android" only to find that my customer's particular model of phone actually doesn't work well and now I'm being sued or forced to buy back a new car for breech of contract.
I say this as a member of the mobile development community, where nearly all Android contract app development is for free/social applications because (a) it's impossible to test your app on every Android model, (b) piracy of paid apps is near instantaneous, (c) very few Android users buy apps and (d) even with other business models, Android users are difficult to make money from since the Android target demographic tends to be poorer bargain hunters.
I develop for iOS, Android, WP8 and Blackberry, amongst others, so I don't have a horse in this race, and I'm not a fanboy. I'm just trying to provide insight. Depending on how Microsoft plays it, you may see a tightly-integrated WP8 AMI implementation sooner than an Android one. Maybe enough S4's will sell and Audi will invest in doing something special for Samsung...
https://www.audiworld.com/articles/a...vehicles-2015/
#16
There's no problem with supporting both.
http://www.opptrends.com/2014/06/aud...-android-auto/
http://www.caradvice.com.au/293074/a...to-audi-honda/
http://blogs.computerworld.com/ios/2...-apple-carplay
http://www.opptrends.com/2014/06/aud...-android-auto/
http://www.caradvice.com.au/293074/a...to-audi-honda/
http://blogs.computerworld.com/ios/2...-apple-carplay
Last edited by rodster111; 06-27-2014 at 06:51 AM.
#17
There's no problem with supporting both.
http://www.opptrends.com/2014/06/aud...-android-auto/
http://www.caradvice.com.au/293074/a...to-audi-honda/
http://blogs.computerworld.com/ios/2...-apple-carplay
http://www.opptrends.com/2014/06/aud...-android-auto/
http://www.caradvice.com.au/293074/a...to-audi-honda/
http://blogs.computerworld.com/ios/2...-apple-carplay
#18
AudiWorld Super User
Yes, a lot has changed in the year since the OP.
The bottom line is nobody really cares except the so-called 'fanboys' who attempt to enrage these discussions.
What matters to A8 buyers and owners, at least in this forum, is whether they can plug their device in and use it.
The bottom line is nobody really cares except the so-called 'fanboys' who attempt to enrage these discussions.
What matters to A8 buyers and owners, at least in this forum, is whether they can plug their device in and use it.
#19
Any forward-thinking carmaker would embrace all platforms. If the aftermarket can do the things it does in todays world in accommodating "niche" activities, a global leviathan should be able to as well. As an IOS user, I was a little concerned when it seemed to take so long for Audi to make any statements about future support for IOS when they were pretty active about publishing their Android support, but they came through in the end. Any company that doesn't provide broad support puts themselves at a competitive disadvantage, regardless of what pundits with cherry-picked data suggest.
#20
Doesn't the android stream music via Bluetooth. I have an iPhone but never plug it into the MMI cable. It is a real hassle, I just keep my phone in my pocket. I have an old iPod I leave plugged into the MMI and it works great. I am pretty sure you could find a used one on eBay for less than $100. I realize it doesn't answer your real question but I would guess all manufactures will be focusing on Bluetooth going forward vs. a having to plug in a device. My real question is why the Kia rental car I had would show album art on the stereo display via Bluetooth but my $100k Audi won't.