Data shows Apple clawing back iPhone share in US, but ceding ground in China
Apple's iPhone continued to gain more U.S. marketshare towards the end of 2016, according to research data published on Wednesday, but saw setbacks in China, facing tough competition from local and often cheaper alternatives.
Apple advanced 6.4 percent year-over-year in the U.S. during a three-month period ending in November, giving it a 43.5 percent marketshare, Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said, citing sales data. That knocked Google's Android platform back to 55.3 percent of the market, in a sixth consecutive period of decline. A year ago, Android held a 60.4 percent share.
The iPhone 7, 7 Plus, and 6s were reportedly the most popular phones in the country, together accounting for 31.3 percent of sales. Samsung though controlled 28.9 percent, thanks to the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. Google's new Pixel phone managed 1.3 percent, said to represent rapid growth.
Apple's share in urban China meanwhile fell from 25.3 percent to 19.9 percent, squaring off against local firms Huawei, Oppo, and Xiaomi. Huawei managed a 25 percent share, though this was actually a decline of 3.1 percentage points from a previous three-month period ending in October. In the same span, Apple advanced 2.8 percentage points thanks to the iPhone 7.
The device in fact became the best-selling Chinese smartphone during the November period, taking 6.6 percent of sales, relegating Oppo's R9 to second place at 4.7 percent.
In the "big five" European markets -- Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain -- both the iPhone and Android made gains year-over-year, hitting 24.6 and 72.4 percent respectively. This was linked to the decline of Windows phones, which fell to 2.8 percent. Britain was a particular strong point for Apple however, where iPhone share rose 9.1 percentage points.
Kantar also noted that between the October and November periods, Android dipped 2.8 points in Europe while the iPhone made gains because of the iPhone 7.
"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," wrote a business unit director for Kantar, Dominic Sunnebo.
Indeed Nikkei recently claimed that Apple is cutting its iPhone 7 production orders by 10 percent based on slower-than-expected sales, despite the 7 Plus remaining in high demand. Indeed while Foxconn -- which assembles the 7 Plus -- saw a revenue uptick in December, standard iPhone 7 manufacturer Pegatron saw its revenues fall dramatically.
Apple advanced 6.4 percent year-over-year in the U.S. during a three-month period ending in November, giving it a 43.5 percent marketshare, Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said, citing sales data. That knocked Google's Android platform back to 55.3 percent of the market, in a sixth consecutive period of decline. A year ago, Android held a 60.4 percent share.
The iPhone 7, 7 Plus, and 6s were reportedly the most popular phones in the country, together accounting for 31.3 percent of sales. Samsung though controlled 28.9 percent, thanks to the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. Google's new Pixel phone managed 1.3 percent, said to represent rapid growth.
Kantar's data suggests Apple had the three most popular smartphones in the U.S: The iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone 6s.
Apple's share in urban China meanwhile fell from 25.3 percent to 19.9 percent, squaring off against local firms Huawei, Oppo, and Xiaomi. Huawei managed a 25 percent share, though this was actually a decline of 3.1 percentage points from a previous three-month period ending in October. In the same span, Apple advanced 2.8 percentage points thanks to the iPhone 7.
The device in fact became the best-selling Chinese smartphone during the November period, taking 6.6 percent of sales, relegating Oppo's R9 to second place at 4.7 percent.
In the "big five" European markets -- Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain -- both the iPhone and Android made gains year-over-year, hitting 24.6 and 72.4 percent respectively. This was linked to the decline of Windows phones, which fell to 2.8 percent. Britain was a particular strong point for Apple however, where iPhone share rose 9.1 percentage points.
Kantar also noted that between the October and November periods, Android dipped 2.8 points in Europe while the iPhone made gains because of the iPhone 7.
"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," wrote a business unit director for Kantar, Dominic Sunnebo.
Indeed Nikkei recently claimed that Apple is cutting its iPhone 7 production orders by 10 percent based on slower-than-expected sales, despite the 7 Plus remaining in high demand. Indeed while Foxconn -- which assembles the 7 Plus -- saw a revenue uptick in December, standard iPhone 7 manufacturer Pegatron saw its revenues fall dramatically.
Comments
Anyway, it shocks me how many people buy into Samsung marketing and believe they have an original and quality device.
https://www.cnet.com/news/iphone-snags-its-highest-u-s-market-share-ever-says-report/
It's nice to see that Apple is rebounding a bit from the 6s crash, but they have a ways to go to get back to where they were.
Hopefully AirPod availability will increase the appeal of the iPhone 7 (I know the products are independent, but I think in many consumer minds they are linked), and Apple can claw back more share.
BTW, you might be surprised to learn that Samsung sells more than the Galaxy line of Sx and Notes - that in fact, the vast majority of their sales are for the lower priced models.
As many people have said - you can't fix stupid.
1) make a compelling mobile device experience that holds and retains customers
2) generates a profit that satisfies it's owners
3) do the hard R&D to marry emerging technologies, what future customers want (and likely don't know they want), scalable production methods, and deliver an insanely great UX.
4) rinse and repeat... Until the Mobile Market is total commodity and there is a 'next big thing' that needs to be pursued for corporate survival.
4a) continually build out your 'ecosystem' to make Apple iOS device dependence a compelling lock in feature (I can't leave my music, my ApplePay, my XYZ)
and you guys are sweating a couple % points in a Trillion dollar market and a 2Billion customer space?
and to be honest, 4 is the hard part, and the reason why Apple's Machine Learning and Cloud has to come up to speed. Apple isn't competing against Android and WinPhone. It's competing against Amazon and Alphabet (google makes no money on _android_), and probably the driverless car builder after Tesla.
And the Car vector is important. if the buying public is buying a car based on 'personal integrated ecosystem' Apple has to play in that space, and ideally define that ecosystem. Making a car is 2ndary to defining the experience, especially if you want to get 3-5% of every 'transaction' your car makes (tolls, energy purchases, in car entertainment, fast food.... If you're not driving the thing, your car is your office, your entertainment, your classroom). I spend 3 hours a day in the car... That's 20% of my waking time. Think about the simple 'your car as a big apple pay antenna' and as you drive up to MickeyD's, you place your order (or it asks which of your favorites you want) from your dashboard, and a big 'TouchID' to confirm and buy.
Meanwhile, Apple has 104% of the profit:
http://fortune.com/2016/11/04/apple-smartphone-profits/
...sucks to be "losing" that badly, huh?
As said by magman.
Also, https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/chooseyourwords/figuratively-literally/
This surprises me. The Pound Sterling took a pounding since brexit. 9.1% rise, if true, is a huge performance.