is actually 53% and 51% now respectively
http://www.slashgear...study-18234449/
53% + 51% = 104%
MARKET
BLOWN
...but let's forget about this minor miscalculation for now and assume that it's 50/50, in that case it's still a pathological situation. Rarely does a single company hold all the rest literally by the balls in a given sector of the industry. As far as smartphones and tablets go, Apple appears to be the leading brand due to their expert marketing, even if the rival hardware is comparable if not, in many cases, better.
The situation will resolve itself automatically - be it by Buyer's Remorse for whatever reasons or the competitors stepping up their game, but it has to be healed - otherwise Apple will remain the handbreak of the industry. The competition right now is not "healthy" - rival companies are not creating original products, they're creating designs *to combat those of Apple*, leading to mimicry, often even of the features that people absolutely detest. Hardware manufacturers assume that if Apple's crap sells, they can also create crap and that's simply not the case.
Every race has a leader - that much is obvious, but if the leader is miles ahead of the rest in rankings not because of skill and invention but because of publicity, you may as well bail from the race.
The manufacturers should compete on the market using their devices, not ads. They should not copy designs in their entirety like it's going on right now - they should only include functionality that is well-accepted and build on-top of it, rather than creating a design "similar" to something that sells well. This isn't even about the patents, it's about the End-User's choice.
If not for Apple's iOS menu that's been so well-recieved, who knows how operating systems would look nowadays. Do note that even Android - the strong rival of the iOS mimics the iOS's layout nowadays rather than have its own cup of tea - why?
Microsoft made a bold move and a statement - they plan to release state-of-the-art technology just like Asus does, combine it with a slimline chassis of the iPad and add their own flavour of Windows 8 - even in x86/x64 form for the Pro edition of surface. This is what I'm talking about - take the good qualities, build upon them and be original by adding a flair of your own inginuity both to the software and the hardware to give the End-User a choice.
Having 32 devices that do exactly the same, have comparable specs, comparable features and look near-identical is not a choice - it's a matter of brand loyalty. What the users should have is a *choice* between what they value more and what they value less.
This is only one of the reasons why I think that Apple's portable hardware all-stars - the iPod, iPhone and iPad are a waste of time. When you create only one model of your hardware with one set of features, perhaps with differentiation in the size of storage, you basically show the middle finger to the user and say "you'll have it and you'll like it". I show the middle finger back and reply "Nope". You should too.
EDIT: For some reason I can't post stuff in clean paragraphs, forgive for the wall of text.
