Are Europeans Sick of Apple and the iPhone?

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And if so, why doesn't anyone seem to care?
There was quite a bit of interest in Apple
AAPL
when the iPhone 4S
broke records
by selling more than four million units in a very short timeframe. Despite the popularity of Google's
GOOG
mobile operating system, you won't find a single Android device that is capable of doing that. In fact, you won't find
an entire group
of Android devices that can do that. But it seems as if a
fair number of European countries
are abandoning the expensive iPhone 4S for cheaper Android devices, effectively reducing Apple's market share by a significant margin. This painful and startling development is not the news that consumers expected to hear during the biggest gift-giving time of the year. For the moment, however, most Apple fans don't seem to care. In checking out the stories around the Web (from tech sites like The Next Web to mainstream publications including the Times of India), it appears that few readers are eager to comment on the matter. It could simply be that it's too early in the morning for the average Apple fan to put down his/her iPad and iPhone and think about what today's revelation could mean for the future. Whatever the case, this is not the big and boisterous Apple-related news people have come to expect in the days leading up to Christmas. That's not to say that there weren't a few warning signs. Yesterday afternoon,
Asymco
published a story detailing the hundreds of thousands people who activate new Android phones every single day. The numbers (700k on November 28 alone) sound a little inflated, but with billions of potential customers around the world, there is more than enough room for Google to experience massive growth – even without stealing a portion of Apple's market share. While
Kantar Worldpanel ComTech
(the research firm behind the iPhone data) believes that price was a key factor in determining which smartphone European consumers decided to purchase, there is no denying that the hype for Google's
edible-sounding OS
, Ice Cream Sandwich, played a significant role in Android's growing success. While the commercials that air in North America tend to be rather unusual (read: they're not as seductive as this
Siri commercial
), the hype for Android is inescapable. Whether you're a frequent visitor to
Benzinga's tech page
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or simply an Average Joe that discovers new phones by exploring an AT&T
T
kiosk, you can't escape the Android hype machine. And because there are so many Android handsets available (and since most cell phone manufacturers use the OS), cellular carriers are quick to promote them. This was especially true when the iPhone was still exclusive to AT&T; at that time, competing mobile carriers were afraid of losing ground to Apple's all-mighty touch screen phone. So they – Sprint
S
, Verizon
VZ
, and the
perpetually imperiled T-Mobile
– did what any corporation in their situation would do: teamed up with a competitor and fought hard to sell its products. In this case, Android phones. In a weird way, you could say that Android had a degree of reverse exclusivity. Sure, AT&T users could buy an Android phone, but they didn't care. Well, the cheapskates did, but what do they matter? The old saying, “You get what you pay for” was written for them. For the most part, consumers who had AT&T and wanted a smartphone – a
real
smartphone – turned to the iPhone. Only BlackBerry loyalists hung onto Research in Motion's
RIMM
dying handsets, but even they have begun to jump ship. RIM has become so worthless that Amazon
AMZN
has
lost all interest
in acquiring the firm. On Sprint and Verizon, it was a whole other ballgame. Consumers weren't given the luxury of
choice
, so they went straight to Android. This multi-year head start on the iPhone market has given Google the ability to not only develop, refine and promote Android as a viable platform, but it has also enabled the tech giant to proliferate the market in ways that wouldn't have been possible if the iPhone had launched on all mobile carriers simultaneously. To be fair, Apple gained a lot from its exclusive partnership with AT&T. The telecommunications company has poured millions (if not billions) of dollars into promoting the iPhone brand. Even now, with the iPhone 4S available on two additional carriers, AT&T is the only company that produces original commercials for the iPhone. Granted, they are self-serving promos; AT&T created the campaign to show that it is the only network that allows you to “talk and surf at the same time.” This campaign was originally launched to prevent the masses from jumping ship when Verizon
received the iPhone 4
. Did it work? Only the mobile carriers can say that for sure. While none of them have released specific sales numbers regarding the iPhone 4S, AT&T was the
first to brag
about activating one million units.
Follow me @LouisBedigian
ACTION ITEMS:

Bullish:
What does today's news mean for the future of smartphone development?:
  • Don't short Apple, but keep a close eye on the company's next few moves before assuming a long position. While the company showns signs of growth in many territories, including China, Apple could be in trouble if it loses Europe to Google. Right now, the iPhone is the company's largest revenue-driver.
  • Google is really cleaning up. In just a very short time, Android has gone from a little-known iPhone competitor to one of the most prominent brands in smartphone development. Even Android apps – an area Apple currently dominates – are beginning to close in on the iPhone's territory with more than 10 billion apps sold on the Android Market. (For immediate updates on Google, Apple and more, take advantage of the lightning-fast speed of Benzinga Pro.)
Bearish:
Who will be hurt the most by Android's growth?:
  • Long-term, it could be Apple.
  • Today, however, the biggest company to suffer will be Research in Motion as consumers move away from BlackBerry and embrace Android.
Neither Benzinga nor its staff recommend that you buy, sell, or hold any security. We do not offer investment advice, personalized or otherwise. Benzinga recommends that you conduct your own due diligence and consult a certified financial professional for personalized advice about your financial situation.
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