10 things Apple must do to hold on to its smartphone crown

10 Things Apple Must Do to Hold On to Its Smartphone Crown
by Don Reisinger 
 
Apple's iPhone proved dominant during the first quarter of 2014. Research firm Counterpoint reported recently that in the U.S., Apple accounted for the majority of smartphones sold during the first quarter on three major carrier networks—Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. Only T-Mobile customers didn't fall in line, with 38 percent of them choosing Samsung handsets over iPhones. Still, the data was clear: Apple was the smartphone market's winner in the first quarter. Of course, Apple has been here before. And in more cases than CEO Tim Cook would like to admit, his company has fallen from the top spot at the hands of Samsung devices, thanks to their superior displays and well-rounded feature sets. The same events could play out again this year, as Samsung's Galaxy S5 starts to make its presence felt in the marketplace and Apple continues to hold off on announcing its new iPhone. The intense competition is sure to continue between the two top smartphone makers. It shouldn't surprise anyone if Samsung leads smartphone sales in the second quarter. But Apple could very well hold on to its smartphone crown in the coming months if it can do the following...
 
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In my opinion, Apple has lost its "smartphone crown" a long time ago. Although iPhones are still a good piece of equipment, with high quality and good parameters, they must recognize the superiority of the flagship models of Samsung and Sony with Android on their boards. For example SGS5 or Xperia Z2 offer more than iPhone (especially when it comes to hardware facilities) while being more cost-competitive. Also, in my opinion, Android is not worse than iOS, especially in its pure form, which is installed for example on Nexus devices. 
Therefore Apple has its homework to be done, hopefully the first effects will become visible with the upcoming premiere of IPhone 6.