Are iPhones really more valuable than Android phones?

---

According to a report by BankMyCell, the most valued mobile phone is an iPhone. It draws its conclusions from a survey which reveals that the depreciation rate of Android devices within 2021 and 2022 is far higher than that of an iPhone. In fact, it exceeds an iPhone by more than twice. This report claims that an Android mobile phone depreciates faster than an iPhone. Despite the “poor” values of Android, it is even better than it was in previous years.

According to the actual data, the iPhone declined by 13.83% in the first year. However, Android phones degraded by 32.06%. In the iPhone year, the iPhone depreciated by 13.57% while the Android phone depreciated by 35.14%. In the fourth year, the depreciation of iPhones is 20.50%, compared to 34.44% for Android phones. It has been found that the iPhone devalue far more slowly than the Android devices in the first two years.

However, is this really a fair comparison? I think it’s time we stop comparing “Android phones and iPhones”. This is because it is a partial comparison. For instance, if the survey considered an iPhone, then it tested a phone from Apple. However, when the survey says “Android Phone”, which brand did it survey? You will agree with me that all Android brands do not have the same durability. Thus, the depreciation rate even with Android will vary significantly.

Hardware

To understand why iPhones retain their value, you must bring up Apple’s hardware self-development practice. This has been consistently used since the iPhone’s inception. Apple is a well-known mobile phone brand with a powerful voice in the supply chain and exceptional R&D capabilities. Thus, if the hardware is the bane of the iPhone’s value, many top Android brands also have their self-developed hardware. These chips perform optimally, another reason why comparing iPhones with Android phones is a farce.

Steve Jobs ditched the old design (like a bar) at the outset of the creation of the iPhone. He instead adopted a full touch screen and created a mobile operating system called iOS for the touch screen. With the release of the iPhone, Apple signalled the beginning of a new era of mobile phones to the world. At the time, the company had to heavily compete with Nokia.

But, it is clear that this will not be enough for the iPhone to have such a huge impact in the future. The iPhone did not formally pave the way for the hegemony of high-end mobile phones until Apple replaced the Samsung S5L8900 chip on the original iPhone with a self-developed A-series chip.

Apple Tech Focus

As can be observed from its full history, Apple has placed a strong emphasis on tech. In 2008, it paid $278 million to acquire PA Semi, a firm that designs microchips.  After launching its own CPU (previously using Samsung’s), it bought mobile chip vendor Intrinsity for US$121 million in April 2010 and Siri for $200 million in the same month.

It debuted fingerprint services after buying AuthenTec for $356 million in July 2012.  Apple created its own map service in 2012 after acquiring Placebase, Poly9, C3, Locationary, BroadMap, HopStop, Embark, etc. Apple had been using Imagination’s PowerVR series GPUs until gutting out the assets to launch its own GPU.

In contrast, Android at that time was still in the prehistoric era in the face of the iPhone’s rise. The voice of Android models in the supply chain is far less powerful than that of Apple, so many Android phone manufacturers have been ridiculed by netizens for assembling machines for the upstream supply chain.

Unlike the iOS system, Android is open source. This allows any device to use the system which makes it unfair to do a comparison between iOS and Android. In the Android ecosystem, there is a large difference in the specs of different models.

iOS serves only iPhones

The iPhone hardware will allow Apple iOS to operate more effectively and provide a better user experience if it solely serves its own devices. Android devices cannot compete with the iPhone in terms of user experience and brand positioning due to early Android development issues like lagging and slowness.

Also, Apple follows a high-quality strategy and avoids using the strategies used by the majority of Android mobile phone makers. It extends the lifespan of the iPhone by only releasing one series per year.

In addition to the iPhone’s high-quality hardware, Apple has also boosted its support for its devices. Apple offers good follow-up services for older models, particularly in terms of system support. For instance, the iPhone 6s from 2015 may still be updated to the iOS 15 version, and the support has lasted for six years.  In this way, the previous iPhone models can serve as entry-level models to target the low-end market while the new iPhone models are targeted towards high-end users.

The fact that the iPhone continue to offer a high-quality after-sales experience despite globalization is what matters most. The iPhone seems to have the strongest user loyalty, which is linked to Apple’s well-designed ecological moat. In order to avoid a situation where one mobile phone product is fighting alone, Apple led the way in making changes. It was the first company to create its own software ecosystem and synchronize the OS and interaction logic across all of its products.

Users are likely to purchase the Apple Watch, AirPods Pro, MacBook models, and other items that are part of the Apple ecosystem once they purchase an iPhone. Customers can benefit from the 1+1 greater than 2 or even greater than 3 usage experience.

Conclusion

Apple has an ecology that attracts users. It’s like a “close family system” and this has nothing to do with value. Once you are in the “family”, it is hard to leave. This doesn’t mean that iPhones are more valuable or durable than Android phones. It just depends on which Android mobile phone is in consideration. Due to the huge growth of the Android camp over the past two years, several cell phone makers have started to compete on a high level and have seen some success.