Phil Schiller, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, has called out Android multiple times recently. It’s only been a few days since Schiller warned Android users to “stay safe out there,” and now he’s gone on the offensive in a brief interview with The Wall Street Journal.

None of Schiller’s comments are particularly surprising, as Apple executives (Schiller included) frequently make jabs at the competition from the stage of a new product keynote.

“Android is often given a free replacement for a feature phone and the experience isn’t as good as an iPhone,” said Schiller. He also said that Android’s fragmentation (a term popularized by Steve Jobs) creates a bad experience for users.

“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.”

iOS users update to new software versions considerably faster than Android users, and Apple is known for its incredible retention rate. “Apple’s own research shows that four times as many iPhone users switched from Android than to Android during the fourth quarter,” according to the Journal.

The Journal framed Schiller’s comments as a defensive move against Android and Samsung, but Schiller is never quoted as referring to Samsung specifically. Samsung will be unveiling its next-gen Galaxy smartphone tomorrow.

Coincidentally, several Cult of Mac writers had a good chat about Samsung’s innovation vs. Apple’s today.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Image: Wired