The Reason Apple Dominates
Spoiler it’s the closed Apple ecosystem
Apple draws you in with 1 piece of hardware.
Everything looks and feels high quality. It’s an experience. The experience is not what keeps you spending lots of money.
It’s the ecosystem.
Everything Apple works in tandem
Apple has created a connection between all of their products no other tech company has matched. One sign in with your iCloud ID and you’re in. Then, like their old slogan, it just works.
Signing in to a new product connects all your Apple gadgets. Now you can AirDrop files to your MacBook. Stream a video from your iPhone to your AppleTV. Listen to music on your AirPods. Respond to text messages and answer phone calls on all of them.
All you had to do was sign in.
The social ecosystem
People around you with iPhones make your life easier. You can send them files by looking in a menu. You can share your WiFi password when they connect through a pop up on your iPhone. Your friends can show you a video on your AppleTV because they’re connected to your home network.
Even iMessage works better with iPhones. You’re in a group conversation with iPhone users and Android users. Every time an iPhone user likes a message, you get a new message saying the message was liked. This puts peer pressure on Android users to switch to Apple.
Living in an ecosystem jail
The lack up of iMessage on other platforms brings up a negative user experience for the Apple ecosystem. Its locked away from every other company’s offering. Want to use the full functionality of Apple watch, you need an iPhone. Want to use Facetime with your friends and family, you need an iPhone, iPad, or MacBook.
Everything Apple requires more Apple products to get the full benefits. Smart home products are huge example of this locked ecosystem. You have to use Apple certified products to get native integration with HomeKit. (There are home brewed products to help with this.) Turning your lights off with Siri requires products made for HomeKit. By the way, HomeKit products cost more than the others because Apple charges to become a certified product.
Then there’s the app store. If you want to install an app on your Apple device (not including the MacBook) you have to use Apple’s app store. Apple is the only hardware manufacturer doing this. It has helped them keep developers putting money into Apple’s bottom line.
My opinion of Apple’s ecosystem.
In my opinion, Apple has the best ecosystem. It is the easiest for even the most tech illiterate. You get logged in and things just work more times than not.
Tech working without having to troubleshoot is a necessity for most users in the world. They don’t have the knowledge to fix many problems they would have. I have known many people who let problems exist for years until they met me. Most of them were simple fixes.
In the future, I would love to see Apple open up their ecosystem. I would love to be able to use my Apple watch with a Samsung folding phone or control my HomeKit accessories with my PC. Technology was meant to complement each other.
Apple has built the best ecosystem.