The momentum of iOS slowed as share declined

Jun 30, 2015 21:44 GMT  ·  By

Although iPhone 6 sales were going strong in the United States since its release last year, it looks like Android is catching up thanks to some of the flagship smartphones that were released on the market a few months ago.

According to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel Comtech, Android OS market share is once again on the rise in the United States.

Sales of the Android smartphones were driven mostly by the launch of Samsung Galaxy S6 in the United States, but also LG G4.

Even though Motorola and HTC did not sell too much during this period of the year, Samsung and LG sales, along with the fact that momentum of the iOS slowed as shares declined, both period-over-period and YoY (year-over-year), was enough to put Android OS on the rise.

“The first full month of sales of the Galaxy S6 allowed Samsung to regain the market lead in the US and grow its share of Android sales from 52% in the three months ending in April to 55% for the three months ending in May,” reported Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

Only 5% of new Android buyers came from Apple

Android gained market share in the US for the three months ended in May going from 62.1% to 64.9%, while Samsung, as mentioned earlier, was top handset manufacturer in this market with 55% market share.

Unfortunately, for Google, Android OS market share in the five most important markets in Europe has declined. The big five markets in Europe are UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Here, Android OS market share declined by 2.9% for the three months ended in May.

“Britain remains the iOS stronghold, forcing Android vendors to rely more on winning customers from Apple than from other Android players,” said Dominic Sunnebo, business unit director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Europe.