John Kirk for Techpinions:

In 2012 there were more Android devices sold than Windows devices. By the end of 2013, it is probable that there will be more iOS devices sold than Windows devices too. If so, by the end of this year, Windows will be only third in terms of OS sales.

They still make a metric buttload of money, but they’ve been bypassed in relevance, as has the platform they make much of their money from.

[Addendum: Originally Kirk had stated there are more Android users than Windows users but it was updated after Benedict Evans noted Android’s still a couple of years from achieving that.]

A giveaway for a product that doesn’t exist is a great way to launch your website.

Spreeify today announces the first ever official Apple iWatch giveaway. Ten winners will be announced prior to October 23 in conjunction with Apple’s official announcement of its newest revolutionary product.

Uh-huh. Sure.

Already I know what kind of people run Spreeify: douchebags.

In response to cynicism about Apple’s ability to succeed in the wristwatch industry, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated, “The only thing we will never do is make a crappy product.”

That is, of course, not at all what Tim Cook was responding to. What he was responding to was speculation about Apple releasing a cheaper iPhone.

So, we’ve got giving away an imaginary product and misusing a quote from an Apple executive to pretend the imaginary product is real.

Good luck with your site launch.

(via Dan Moren)

Leslie Meredith for TechNewsDaily:

“Device models running on the iOS platform average 14 times the number of active users compared to device models running on other platforms, < Mary Ellen Gordon,

Investors.com’s Patrick Seltz reports that IDC is cutting its PC sales forecast.

“The problem (with touch-screen PCs) is the price points are high,” IDC analyst Bob O’Donnell told IBD. “And Microsoft has created the impression that you have to have touch (to use Windows 8).”

But what about all the dancing? That comes free, doesn’t it?

From October to January Apple’s share went from 34.3 percent to 37.8 percent. Samsung’s share was also up from 19.5 percent to 21.4 percent. Android as a whole was actually down 1.3 percent to 52.3 percent.

Looking forward to Dan Lyons telling us what this says about the out-of-touch elitism of Americans.

And this disclaimer is the difference between his switcher story and pretty much everyone else’s.

No way is it an argument about why anybody else should drop their iPhones and switch to a flagship Android phone.

This isn’t the story about how Apple has lost its way and no longer innovates. It hasn’t and it still does. This is merely the story of one dude who got a new phone.

Everyone has different needs and those of us who are technology enthusiasts are unlikely to be representative examples of the general population.

At least I hope not. For their sake. I mean, when was the last time you showered? I don’t even know what day it is. Twosday? Is that a day?

Fast Company’s Austin Carr follows up on a classic Steve Jobs gag:

“That’s why people order 4,000 lattes!”

The great thing about seeing him make that crank call was knowing how Jobs and Wozniak got their start messing around with phones. The joke, just like the iPhone itself, was Apple’s history come full circle.

(Via The Verge)

Writing for Time, Ben Bajarin refines his Grand Unified Theory on How Wall Street Doesn’t Get Apple:

So to recap: Apple is the most profitable company, can’t make enough products to meet demand and is the most admired by its peers. Yet Wall Street and media fanatics are claiming Apple is doomed. The reality distortion field is in full effect.

Apple has a lower P/E ratio than Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and now Dell, to name a few. I find this baffling and I would challenge any analyst to articulate to me how Apple is not healthier and stronger, competitively, in the long-term than many of those companies.

That’s what I’d like to know.