In a rare interview hours before Samsung takes the wraps off its next-generation Galaxy S4 smartphone at the Unpacked event in New York City, Apple (AAPL) marketing chief Phil Schiller played down the expected competition from the device, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Citing Apple research, the executive said that “Android users are often running old operating systems and that the fragmentation in the Android world was “plain and simple.”
He added that “Android is often given a free replacement for a feature phone and the experience isn’t as good as an iPhone.”
In addition to the above comments, Schiller said that Google (GOOG)’s Android operating system is inferior to Apple’s own mobile platform:
“When you take an Android device out of the box, you have to sign up to nine accounts with different vendors to get the experience iOS comes with,” he said. “They don’t work seamlessly together.”
According to Schiller, the Android devices suffer because different elements of the user interface originate from different companies, whereas Apple is responsible for all its mobile hardware as well as its iOS operating system. This uniformity, noted the executive, allows for a more user-friendly experience.
Schiller claimed Cupertino has data indicating that 4x as many iPhone users switched away from Android compared to the number of iPhone users that have gone to the competing platform in the fourth quarter.
Schiller’s comments come ahead of the Galaxy S4 launch, a device that could propel Samsung deeper into Apple’s U.S. home turf.
Samsung has anticipated sales of the new Galaxy S4 smartphone to be as high as 10 million handsets per month.
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