>How are Apple still selling so many iPhones when the competition has caught up dramatically?

I'm not a tech person like folks around here. I'm good with tech such that dozens of friends and family use me for tech support, but my skills can't touch what HN users can do. I don’t even work in tech. Never have. I'm also someone who has been an Apple user since before there was a Mac.

The idea that the competition "has caught up" sounds like a specs kind-of comparison. I wouldn't know, but I assume it's true (especially ignoring Apple chips). All in all, I assume any major capabilities are widespread. Here are the things I see among average US users I know who are using iPhones and glad they do. Of course, they can afford any iPhone cost premium, but none of what I see is from people who are big spenders, the type who regularly get a newer model. For example, one friend is still happy with his iPhone 7 and a relative recently asked for iPhone recommendations when the screen got shattered on a 5S.

But here are the things I’ve noticed among the people I know, in no particular order:

1. Overall, they actively like the Apple UI and UX. It’s not that it works and that they can do whatever they want, it brings them a measure of pleasure. For all I know it’s as simple as the colors used, but there are experiences there (unknown to me) that delight them. Delight is powerful. Remember in the original iPhone intro when Jobs discussed showing the prototype to a friend and that person said something like, “You had me at rubber band scrolling”? That’s delight.

2. Apple Stores. Average users like knowing where to go in advance should they need full-on help. When making a platform switch, that’s reassuring and apt to come to mind. I think there’s a dual-action thought process—they’re comforted that they just know where there’s an Apple Store (not too far away for most Americans) and they’re at best ambivalent about the carrier store experience for a non-iPhone.

3. Accessories galore. The Android ecosystem may be just as bountiful, but most people believe the Apple ecosystem is bountiful. Other than a case they probably don’t know if there are even accessories they want, but they like the comfort of knowing there’s anything they can imagine if they get a need.

4. The iPad. If you're a tablet user (ignoring e-readers here), being all-in on one style of UI/UX, along with any Apple integrations—the notes just sync!—has value and allure. Since the iPad is the tablet, Apple has kind of cornered that multi-purchase market.

5A. Network effects. These remarkable, ongoing iPhone sales numbers, combined with ideas like I’ve described above, are going to have network effects. Whether it’s blue-bubble peer pressure, nearly 15 years of iPhone TV commercials seeping into minds, whatever… hundreds of millions of satisfied users are going to have network effects.

5B. The other network effect is all-time iPhone sales. What is it, around a billion now? Over nearly 15 years. That's a lot of phones getting replaced even by people who aren't the type to always have a sufficiently new model.

When a product reaches this many sales, it’s never about specific features. Nearly all buyers don’t know the strengths or weaknesses of the iPhone privacy features. Encryption? Most people’s first thought is a fear of getting locked out. Privacy? There’s a good chance they’ll install a Facebook, Instagram, or Google-made app anyway, all without a thought about privacy. The camera? They can see it's good. Apps? There are loads.

That’s why Apple keeps tacking on more small features or services. Keep the users happy. Users likely don’t care about the free Apple Arcade trial or home screen widgets or a new accessibility capability. But there’s something there for pretty much everyone. Maybe it’s the free season of Apple TV because they saw Ted Lasso. Or easily pinpointing a kid’s whereabouts. Or FaceTime because grandma has an iPad and she’ll know how to answer a FaceTime call the first time she gets one.

The product becomes something else at some point. And if Apple keeps them sufficiently satisfied, they’re unlikely to leave, especially since a smartphone borders on necessity in today’s world.