14 DAY TRIAL // The latest Kantar Worldpanel report shows some results for smartphone sales before the holidays, specifically based on mobile operating system. The first thing that caught our attention is the fact that market trends haven’t really changed in November compared to the report from September.
During the ninth month of last year, Kantar reported that iOS sales in three regions had grown in the three-month period ending July 2016. Android sales had declined 0.6% during the same three months. It seems that the market hasn’t recorded any significant changes since then.
During September, October and November 2016, Android sales declined in the US, Great Britain and France, three of the most important Western markets. It may appear that Android users are shifting towards iOS, since phones running this operating system continue to record growth in sales. Android thus recorded the sixth consecutive period of decline in the US, reaching 55.3% of the market, down from 60.4% last year.
iPhone 7 Plus more popular in the US than the Galaxy S7 edge
Apple’s iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 6s were the three most popular smartphones in the US at the beginning of the holiday period, capturing 31.3% of the market. Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge were the fourth and fifth bestselling smartphones in the country, while Google’s Pixel phones recorded 1.3% of all sales during the three-month period.
An interesting piece of information regards Verizon’s sales during Black Friday. The report shows that Verizon was the most successful US carrier, managing to account for a quarter of all US smartphone sales. The US carrier posted Black Friday offers for both Apple and Samsung phones.
Android is big in China
Even though Android smartphones aren’t doing so great in the Western world, it appears that they’re holding on to their dominance in the Chinese market, while iOS dropped to 19.9% from 25.3% in 2015.
“Nearly 80% of all smartphones sold in Urban China during the three months ending November 2016 were Android, as local brands continued to dominate the market,” said Tamsin Timpson, Strategic Insight Director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia.
Europe’s big five markets combined, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, have driven Android and iOS sales up, following the decline of Windows. In the EU5, Android reached a market share of 72.4%, while iOS sales accounted for 24.6% of all smartphone sales.
“The holiday period is always strong for Apple, but it remains to be seen if demand for the latest devices will level out in the first quarter of 2017,” said Dominic Sunnebo, Business Unit Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Europe.