What's insane is that the market / users doesn't care, they're making more than ever... It's quite sad to see that vision pro, apple Intelligence and liquid glass were all failures and no one cared... I hope android makes a comeback against Apple in the US so they're forced to innovate.

I don’t see Android making big inroads until there’s more of a presence from Android manufacturers that fill Apple’s niche in smartphones and tablets.

Samsung desperately wants to be this but misses the part where iPhones don’t come with third party junkware even if they’re entry level models and don’t allow carrier junkware either. Google could be it but they’re too married to midrange hardware and underwhelming physical designs.

All it would take is for a manufacturer to commit to their whole lineup being built with reasonably capable hardware (no ancient or weak SoCs as seen in budget Android devices), to completely jettison third party junkware, and have top end flagships with hardware that actually matches that description, but none thus far have managed this.

I don't think the average consumer is thinking about junkware nor physical design, it's just most people have iPhones especially in tech / young adults and thus more want to be on iPhone to share messages, airdrop, airpod support etcetc. They've created a network effect.

> I don't think the average consumer is thinking about junkware nor physical design

Probably not, but a zero junkware/zero carrier meddling policy is a major contributor to the brand's premium image, which makes the whole lineup more desirable. The iPhone is an invariable, singular product no matter how it's obtained, even if it has different price points.

By contrast Samsung, etc undermine themselves by trying to squeeze out pennies anywhere they can. That's the behavior of a commodity, not a premium brand.

is that not what oneplus started as?

I haven't followed OnePlus closely but as I remember, when they had their first burst of popularity they were aiming to be a value play more than anything else, operating mostly in the midrange space.

Microsoft CoPilot?

Microsoft is doing a "good" job slapping AI onto their products. Might not be the best use but I doubt they sit idle.

Their servers aren't sitting idle. Sam needs them all.