40% of European smartphone buyers plan on buying iPhone next, 19% choose Android

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
According to a recent survey, smartphone purchasers in Europe are twice as likely to buy Apple's iPhone than a Google Android device as their next handset.



An early look at the findings from the Yankee Group's 2011 European Mobile User Study revealed that 40 percent of European smartphone buyers plan on making the iPhone their next device, as compared to 19 percent for Android, BGR reported on Thursday. Also, 17 percent of respondents went with Research in Motion's BlackBerry, while 15 percent chose Nokia.



?These findings highlight the continued strength of Apple in the European smartphone market and, in particular, its phenomenal brand appeal,? said Declan Lonergan, research VP at Yankee Group. ?The data also highlights the enormous challenges faced by Nokia and RIM to retain mind share and market share in this increasingly dynamic and competitive marketplace.?



The study polled 5,000 consumers and 2,250 employees and IT decision-makers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. Employees also said in the study that they are 58 percent more productive during long-distance travel with a tablet, and mobile users tended to have more than one device, switching between screens depending on context.



The findings come as analysts have suggested that Android may be poised lose some of its market share gains after two straight years of growth. Android lost share to the iPhone in the U.S. during the March quarter, driven in part by sales of the iPhone 4 on Verizon, which reached 2.2 million units by the end of March.



Europe is Apple's second best-performing region for the iPhone. As of the March quarter, Apple's smartphone market share stands at just above 20.8 percent in the area, behind only the handset's 30 percent market share in the U.S. By comparison, Android currently comprises 35.7 percent of smartphone sales in Western Europe.



iPhone's market share by region | Source: IDC
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 46
    rabbit_coachrabbit_coach Posts: 1,114member
    I am not really surprised about to numbers in this article. When ever I am traveling using public transportation in Erope, I see that the majority of people using mobile devices, actually use iOS devices rather than anything else.

    About the graph below the article, if it is going to be reused more often, I strongly suggest to redraw it. How about using numbers?
  • Reply 2 of 46
    nairbnairb Posts: 253member
    I think that a lot of these will end up going for a cheaper android, unless apple does release a mid priced device. Then they will probably reach or even exceed their 40%.
  • Reply 3 of 46
    harbingerharbinger Posts: 570member
    Personally, I'd continue to buy the iphone, but I have invested in the ecosystem.



    It's not clear from this survey what would reverse the trend - i.e. what's compelling European customers to favoring more iPhones when they have been buying more Androids for a while now. If the reason for favoring Androids is pricing, then nothing is changing. If it is anticipation for iPhone 5, then that initial excitement will wane and Europe will settle back into the current Android-iPhone ratio. Unless the US, there is no Verizon effect to stifle Android growth.
  • Reply 4 of 46
    ahmlcoahmlco Posts: 432member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Nairb View Post


    I think that a lot of these will end up going for a cheaper android, unless apple does release a mid priced device. Then they will probably reach or even exceed their 40%.



    A subsidized phone is a subsidized phone. And "saving" $100 up front when you're going to be spending $100 or so a month for the next two years seems more than a little shortsighted...
  • Reply 5 of 46
    mcdaviesmcdavies Posts: 43member
    What are the other 20% buying? What other phones are counted as smart phones?
  • Reply 6 of 46
    mac.worldmac.world Posts: 340member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by McDavies View Post


    What are the other 20% buying? What other phones are counted as smart phones?



    ???

    40% to buy iOS

    19% to buy Android

    17% to buy RIM

    15% to buy Nokia



    That leaves 9% for those that probably states they were "unsure". Where do you get 20%?
  • Reply 7 of 46
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Europeans know their stuff.
  • Reply 8 of 46
    sipsip Posts: 210member
    I see a lot of iDevices in the UK -- initially, a fair percentage of people jailbroke their iPhones, now people are buying factory-unlocked phones, as they hold their value (you get more if the iPhone is both factory unlocked and jailbreakable). My lad has just sold his unlocked white iPhone 3GS for £285 (US $455). Others are getting as high as £325 (US $520) for their 3GS.



    When I bought the first iPhone, my network did not have iPhones so I JB it and used my own SIM in it and moved to a rolling contract. I then bought a factory unlocked 3GS and simply swapped out the SIMs. I recently spoke to my network about iPhone4, as I am entitled to a "network subsidy" as I have not upgraded my phone for 4 years. The guy I spoke to advised me it would still be cheaper for me to buy an unlocked iPhone from the Apple Store and remain on my existing contract -- he doubled my cross-network minutes and SMS packages and reduced the monthly charge by one-third.



    I don't know about others, but bartering is in my blood -- if you don't ask, you don't get! It is surprising how much leeway some of the network advisers have in offering discounts, and I have now been with the same network since December 1994. Networks expect churn but will also go some way to retain customers.
  • Reply 9 of 46
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sip View Post


    I see a lot of iDevices in the UK -- initially, a fair percentage of people jailbroke their iPhones, now people are buying factory-unlocked phones, as they hold their value (you get more if the iPhone is both factory unlocked and jailbreakable). My lad has just sold his unlocked white iPhone 3GS for £285 (US $455). Others are getting as high as £325 (US $520) for their 3GS.



    When I bought the first iPhone, my network did not have iPhones so I JB it and used my own SIM in it and moved to a rolling contract. I then bought a factory unlocked 3GS and simply swapped out the SIMs. I recently spoke to my network about iPhone4, as I am entitled to a "network subsidy" as I have not upgraded my phone for 4 years. The guy I spoke to advised me it would still be cheaper for me to buy an unlocked iPhone from the Apple Store and remain on my existing contract -- he doubled my cross-network minutes and SMS packages and reduced the monthly charge by one-third.



    I don't know about others, but bartering is in my blood -- if you don't ask, you don't get! It is surprising how much leeway some of the network advisers have in offering discounts, and I have now been with the same network since December 1994. Networks expect churn but will also go some way to retain customers.



    I'm the same way, and I think the unlocked iPhones will be very popular - especially in Europe and Asia. If the iPhone 5 comes out unlocked, and worldband, there may well be a stronger resurgence in iPhone sales than previously. Unfortunately we Americans don't really scrutinize the deals we get very well and few would understand that paying full price and negotiating a custom plan would save a boatload of money.
  • Reply 10 of 46
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ahmlco View Post


    A subsidized phone is a subsidized phone. And "saving" $100 up front when you're going to be spending $100 or so a month for the next two years seems more than a little shortsighted...



    Subsidies are illegal in parts of the EU and pre-pay phones are a lot more popular in Europe compared to North America. Even the price of a contract tends to vary depending on the value of the phone in Europe.



    So, for a premium phone like the iPhone to attract the attention of 40% of smartphone buyers in Europe, it must be doing very well.
  • Reply 11 of 46
    cloudgazercloudgazer Posts: 2,161member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by RichL View Post


    Subsidies are illegal in parts of the EU and pre-pay phones are a lot more popular in Europe compared to North America.



    From wiki: Singapore & Israel are the only countries in the world that forbid SIM locking and contract/phone bundling outright.



    Belgium did used to but not since mid-2009.



    There are rules in some EU markets that require carriers to unlock phones but that's not the same thing at all. France probably has the strongest rules within the EU for supplying an unlock, and you can pick up an iPhone-4 for 200 Euro on contract there, so clearly those laws are not significantly impacting French carriers' ability to subsidize their phones.
  • Reply 12 of 46
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ahmlco View Post


    A subsidized phone is a subsidized phone. And "saving" $100 up front when you're going to be spending $100 or so a month for the next two years seems more than a little shortsighted...



    Yes, in America thats short sighted, but Phone contracts in many parts of Europe are MUCH, MUCH cheaper. I pay £30 a month for my iPhone4 contract (£169 upfront - saving of £430) and get 3GB fo Internet (with tethering), unlimited texts and 500mins (or unlimited if its to someone on the same network). It will take aprox 15months worth of payments to pay off the £430 difference, leaving 9months remaining (£270 worth of bills), which is what most Americans pay in just two or three months on contract.



    Given how cheap you can get phone deals over the pond, a lower upfront cost can be the deal breaker, but I can see why the iPhone is flying up in popularity from a price perspective - my friend just got a 16GB iPhone4 on a two year contract with an upfront cost of only £69! He gets truly Unlimited Internet (nearly 10GB last month using it as a modem to download torrents, no penalty or warnings), 2000mins and Unlimited texts for £35 a month!
  • Reply 13 of 46
    joseph ljoseph l Posts: 197member
    What is the methodology here?



    I have trouble believing that more than half of those people would reject the iPhone for something else.



    60/40 is almost 2:1 against Steve! That seems pretty unlikely with the iP5 being released within weeks.
  • Reply 14 of 46
    jacksonsjacksons Posts: 244member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Joseph L View Post


    What is the methodology here?



    I have trouble believing that more than half of those people would reject the iPhone for something else.



    60/40 is almost 2:1 against Steve! That seems pretty unlikely with the iP5 being released within weeks.



    you don't get a chance to step out of your bubble much?
  • Reply 15 of 46
    macrulezmacrulez Posts: 2,455member
    deleted
  • Reply 16 of 46
    cloudgazercloudgazer Posts: 2,161member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacRulez View Post


    According to the chart supplied with the article, moving beyond what people say to what they actually do looks even worse, with Apple below 30%.



    You're linking worldwide share data, this thread is about EU market data. It's not odd that their worldwide share is lower, when they are barely present in China, Japan and a bunch of other markets.



    If you went looking for EU marketshare data you might have found this putting Apple up at 45%, implying they're also capturing about half the 'undecideds' on average. Now if you can find some EU-wide data that shows them at 30% then that would be interesting.
  • Reply 17 of 46
    joseph ljoseph l Posts: 197member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacRulez View Post


    Whether this changes radically enough to support the claims of this pollster about the currently-unknown future remains to be seen, but even then if we look at the global market as a whole rather than selectively focusing on subsets, there's much more to do to catch up to Android:

    http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/mobile-d...hare-40092829/





    That is all about the past. The iPhone 5 is going to change everything, and Google is going to beat a hasty retreat.



    Think of it this way. Developers are leaving Android in droves, because it is impossible for any of them to make any money. That means that the best, newest apps will be exclusive to the iPhone.



    Android is all fragmented, and most phones won't run any cool software, because of it. You can buy a brand new Android phone that runs an obsolete old OS, and will never be updated. Apple always supports is products, and you know that you will be up to date for the expected lifetime of your device.



    Andorid is just for geeks and nerds and people who want everything for free. Luckily, most people are better than that, and that is why Apple is Number One.
  • Reply 18 of 46
    addicted44addicted44 Posts: 830member
    ?These findings highlight the continued strength of Apple in the European smartphone market and, in particular, its phenomenal brand appeal,?



    I find this quote really fascinating. It really shows why competitors fail to compete against Apple so miserably (classic example being the iPad). Most people get so taken in by Apple's "brand appeal", they forget why that brand appeal actually exists.



    Because they make damn good products. I like the Apple brand, because I know when I buy a product from them it will be a well made, well-conceived product. I know the company spent time and effort on it, and thought its use case through, rather than hoping I would find some way to take advantage of it.
  • Reply 19 of 46
    chrispoechrispoe Posts: 80member
    I agree with MacRulez statement, what people say and what people do are two totally different things.
  • Reply 20 of 46
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Nairb View Post


    I think that a lot of these will end up going for a cheaper android, unless apple does release a mid priced device. Then they will probably reach or even exceed their 40%.



    There's the rub. Unlike the US, where the handset cost difference is low compared to the service cost, there is a huge difference in price between iPhone and others. Most buyers of Andriod phones buy them as a cheaper alternative to iPhone rather than any dislike of Apple or like for "free and open" Google

    I sold phones for 4 months last summer while I was unable to travel for my normal work and this was something that I saw literally every day.

    The best selling Android phones aren't the high end ones that sell in the US, they are things like the Orange SanFrancisco, the HTC Europa and ones that are on run-out like the SGS and Desire.

    Samsung have tried to capture more of the market by pitching the SGS2 low from day one and it will be interesting to see how that sells.

    I have just come back from Paris and I have literally never seen so many iPhone and iPads. Wher money is no object, people buy iPhones
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