Apple and its iPhone smartphones in the
holiday quarter for the first time overtoo
Android smartphones in terms of US
sales since the same quarter in 2012,
according to Kantar Worldpanel
ComTech's latest report.
The data released on Wednesday also
suggested that Apple saw a rise in sales
across the US, Europe, and China during
the fourth quarter last year.
In the US, iPhone or iOS accounted for
47.7 percent of smartphones sold in the
US, while Android accounted for 47.6
percent, Windows Phone for 3.8 percent,
and BlackBerry for 0.3 percent.
Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at
Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, said, "In th
US, Apple iOS overtook Android for the
first time since this time in 2012, albeit
by the slimmest 0.1 percent margin."
Kantar back in December had predicted
that Apple was on its way to a "record
quarter" thanks to the iPhone 6 and
iPhone 6 Plus sales in major markets an
it certainly came true when the
Cupertino-based company announced
that it sold 74.5 million iPhone units in
Q4.
"While the success of the iPhone 6 and
iPhone 6 Plus is unprecedented, this
quarter's performance also points to
Apple having its strongest portfolio ever.
With a range of devices available at
different price points in both contract an
pre-pay Apple was able to take
advantage of a weaker Android offering
at the premium end of the market,"
Milanesi added.
Apple's iOS also surpassed Android in
Australia and Japan, but still lagged
behind in Europe and China.
Android smartphone share across Europ
(Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy,
and Spain) saw a dip of 3.8 percent
points year-on-year to 66.1 percent whil
Apple's iOS reported a rise by 6.2 percen
points.
Great Britain reported the highest growth
of iOS devices that saw a rise by 13.1
percent points compared to the same
period last year with Android OEMs
Samsung , LG , and Sony.
Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight
director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech
Europe notes, "Italy was the only
European market where Android grew.
Considering the strong pre-pay market
and the wider direct channel it is not a
surprise that Android products - with
their value for money proposition -
continue to appeal to Italian consumers.
Last year, Kantar's data suggested that
Android smartphone platform extended
its lead over Apple's iPhone in key
markets including the United States,
Europe and China.
In China, Kantar data suggests that
Apple's iOS grew its market share "at the
expense of Android." Tamsin Timpson,
strategic insight director at Kantar
Worldpanel ComTech Asia explains that
despite Apple saw a rise in smartphone
market share; Xiaomi was the bestselling
brand. "While Xiaomi remained the
bestselling brand in the latest period,
Apple was able to close the gap slightly,
growing its share to 21.5 percent from 1
percent last year," notes Timpson.
Kantar on Windows Phone said that the
OS struggled in the last quarter and
recorded slight growth only in countries
such as France and Germany.
In another report released for the most
gifted device in 2014 holiday quarter in
the US, iPhone was the most gifted
smartphone while iPad was the favourite
in tablets. The Samsung Galaxy S5 was
the second most gifted
smartphone.According to Kantar, Apple'
iPhones represented 57 percent of all
smartphones given as gifts while iPads
made up 33.7 percent. It adds that
iPhone 6 was the most popular gifting
smartphone while the iPad Air was the
most gifted tablet.
iPhone Overtakes Android in US for the First Time Since 2012: Report | NDTV Gadgets
