In India, in 2025, can you guess the average price of a mobile phone? Approximately Rs. 26,000 to Rs. 27,000.
That is, most people are going to buy a mobile phone worth Rs. 26,000 to Rs. 27,000 in 2025. But when it comes to buying a mobile phone worth Rs. 50,000, most people’s default choice here is the Apple iPhone.
Where people don’t even look at any other brand worth Rs. 50,000. And there, they only go after Apple’s iPhone.
Why iPhone Dominates the Premium Market
The simple reason is Apple’s logo, brand value and many other things. And many people also call iPhone users cheaters here. Because they like to go after Apple without looking at what’s going on in Android.
Can Android Reclaim the Market?
But now the question arises, can Android capture this market again? Because if you look at it, literally, there are a lot of good products in Android which have developed in the past few months. And even above Rs. 50,000, you get to see some new and some innovation here.
The Problem with Apple: Lack of Innovation
First of all, let’s talk about what is the biggest problem with Apple. Apple takes the same thing and keeps running it for a long time.
In that, you don’t get to see anything new here. The same things run for years. And yes, any new innovation comes first on the Android side. And it takes a lot of years for the iPhone to come.
Innovation: Foldables and High Refresh Rates
Let me give you an example of foldable. It’s been more than 5 years that Android has come up with foldable phones. But does Apple have a foldable iPhone today? No, it doesn’t.
We have been seeing a 120Hz display for so many years. But in iPhone 17, its base model will now have a 120Hz display. You can understand how much things have slowed down in innovation.
Android Still Innovating in Premium Segment
At one time, Apple used to lead a lot of things. But in the last 5-6 years, the innovation cycle in Apple has decreased a lot. I can tell you this with guarantee.
With this, look at one thing in Android. In Android, the new form factor, new things, new concepts still work. Although things have slowed down in Android, but in premium, the companies that continue to try out new things.
Battery Technology: A Leap Ahead
I would like to tell you some examples. First of all, silicon carbon battery technology. This is first in the flagship.
Now it is slowly coming in your mid-range phones. And the benefit of this is that you can put a high-capacity battery in a mobile phone. Its thickness will not increase, the mobile phone will also remain thin. And the benefit of this is that if you use fast charging, then there will be no battery degradation in the mobile phone.
That is, your degradation will be less and it will be slow. And with this, I can also tell you that fast charging phones are also fast discharging phones. So here, fast charging phones will be there. But now those fast discharging phones are not going to be there. This is a very good concept that you are seeing here.
Performance: Android Surpassing Apple
A lot of things can be seen in many phones. But before coming to Apple, it seems that it will take a lot of time. Even if I talk about the performance side, then what is left? Here, in the last few months, Apple was moving very far with its A series processor.
But recently, the performance of A18 Pro has been snapped and beaten by the 8 Elite. Man, I am telling the truth. In the 8 Elite, more better performance is coming out or more things are coming out. And yes, MediaTek and Qualcomm are both working to make their chips better.
Even here, the development is happening so fast that these people have already left Apple behind. Which looks like a very surprising thing to see.
Camera Wars: Android Striking Back
Along with this, one of the core reasons for buying Apple’s iPhone is its cameras. But the truth is that in today’s time, Android cameras are getting a lot better. And getting innovative and getting improved. Let me tell you my own experience.
I have seen the phones of Vivo company. And in their phone, literally photography and camera is very good. If we talk about low light, or if we talk about their Zeiss lenses, Portrait effects are very advanced and superior.
Even in Oppo’s Find X series, the cameras look good. And in Samsung’s S24 Ultra and upcoming S25 Ultra, you can see how many superior cameras are produced here.
Video Recording and Features Catching Up
In the camera thing, the iPhone is going backwards from where it was earlier. Even Android is catching up slowly in video recording.
Dolby Vision video recording features have also started coming. And if you look at it slowly, it has already surpassed. There is only a perception in people’s minds that the iPhone takes better quality video and photos. Although it is not like that here.
Updates and Software Support
Along with this, let’s talk about the update too. That there are updates in the iPhone for a long time. But now things are changing in Android too.
Especially in flagship phones, updates of 3-4 years are not easily available. Samsung is promising an update of less than 7 years here.
AI: Android Miles Ahead
Along with this, I can’t even talk about the AI thing. Apple Intelligence is still far behind in AI. While the AI thing is ahead of Samsung at the moment.
Google Pixel comes at number 1 in AI, which people have been working on for a long time. Along with this, Samsung’s Galaxy AI comes and it is already doing a lot better. Because Apple Intelligence has not yet reached that level.
Display, Ecosystem, and Brand Perception
Along with this, many apps that Google has worked on in Gemini are even more next level. Because of which most phones will use AI.
Whether we talk about AI Interpreter, AI Translation, or the subtitling of AI. Or let’s talk about your famous Search Circle 2. And features like Magic Eraser have also become very common.
Where in Android, these things have easily reached the mass scale. But still, the iPhone is still here.
Along with this, let’s talk about display technologies, brightness, PWM dimming. In every matter, Android is ahead here.
The only thing here is that Apple’s perception is made and a crowd is going on. That Apple’s iPhone is better, we have to go and buy it.
Android’s Open Ecosystem
However, some people buy Apple’s iPhone because it is in Apple’s ecosystem and they don’t want to leave it.
Which I can understand. But such an open ecosystem is also being created in Android.
Whether I talk about Android and Windows compatibility. Or I talk about Android to Android compatibility. Improvements and evolutions have taken place here.
Apple’s Hype vs Android’s Efforts
See one thing, the effort your Android company puts in, Apple does not put so much effort. Apple will make one thing and do a small thing, but it overhypes it a lot.
Things are made in Android, but the overhype happens a lot later. And yes, there is also refinement in Android, new things come.
But in comparison to that, there is a lot of slump in the iPhone. In Android, it has become a little slow now. But I can tell you that if you wait 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, then you will get to see something new.
Experimental Android Designs
One thing I have seen well is that Android phone companies sometimes believe in experimenting. Like Huawei’s Mate XT, they made a tri-folding phone.
If Apple wants to make a phone like this, it will take many years. Even a company like Samsung is working on a rollable phone or tri-folding phone at the moment. Which looks very good here.
Maturity and Mutual Feature Borrowing
Along with this, I have seen that maturity is coming in Android and many things are coming in iOS.
However, I can tell you that when something new comes in iOS, Android copies it very quickly. And there are many features in Android that iOS copies here.
Security Improvements in Android
Even if we talk about privacy and security, there was a very strong point that was with Apple’s iPhone. In Android, as soon as Samsung’s Knox came, security levels were improving a lot.
Where even in security, the iPhone is left behind in some cases. Where we also get to see hardware level security.
Like Samsung’s Knox, many governments in the world where mobile phones are allowed are Samsung’s.
Variety and Brand Choices in Android
Finally, a very important thing that I feel is that in Android, you get to see a lot of brands and a lot of options. Which could never make its place in the iPhone. That is, if you don’t like a particular brand, you can go to another place.
If you know the green line in OnePlus, then you can try Oppo, Vivo, Realme, Xiaomi phones.
Even in the budget, you will get to see iQOO, you can also see phones like Poco. Along with this, there is a brand like Samsung, there is also Motorola. And if you want to see something unique, new, funky, then you can also see a brand like Nothing.
That is, there is no shortage of things, many things. And every company is getting better and evolving everywhere.
The Final Question: Will Apple Be Challenged?
This thing is here in Apple’s iPhone. But things have become very slow in Apple’s iPhone.
If we talk about it, then is Apple’s iPhone moving forward in terms of volume today?
Well, if you look at the overall volume, Android still has more. But if we talk about the segment above Rs 50,000 in premium, then the monopoly of iPhone is made here. But will this monopoly always remain?
iPhone to Android: Transition Getting Easier
Well, we can’t say anything. Because what used to happen before, it was easy to go from Android to iPhone, but it was not easy to come from iPhone to Android.
But now companies have also made it easier to go from iPhone to Android. And yes, you all know that most people do not live in the Apple ecosystem in India.
Most people only buy Apple’s iPhone, after that they will buy someone else’s TWS, someone else’s watch, they have to run Windows on their laptop. I am talking about the majority of people.
But yes, if they want to leave the iPhone and come back to Android, then that thing can be possible here.
Conclusion
Well, there are a lot of things that will continue to run in the market here. But the thing to see is whether Apple’s monopoly is challenged in 2025 or they grow even more at this time.
But I would like to tell you one thing, Apple will have to do something innovative here very soon. If they don’t do it, then somewhere their grip will be loose and Android can eat their market here.
