Apple's iPhone 4S propels iOS smartphone market share to 43% in Oct., Nov. 2011

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014


The release of the iPhone 4S has driven significant growth for the iOS platform, with one analysis finding that Apple's share of U.S. smartphone sales grew from 26 percent in the third quarter of 2011 to 43 percent in October and November.



According to research firm The NPD Group's data, Android smartphone sales dropped off from 60 percent in the third quarter of 2011 to 47 percent during the two-month period, as noted by TechCrunch. Research in Motion continued its decline, falling from 8 percent to 6 percent during the same timeframe, while Windows Phone remained largely irrelevant with just a few percentage points of market share.



NPD characterized 2011 as the year the smartphone industry came down to a "two-horse race" between iOS and Android. A previous report from the firm had pegged combined iOS and Android smartphone market share in the U.S. at a crushing 82 percent during the third quarter of 2011.



With Apple and Google dominating the market, smartphone penetration continues to increase. According to the firm, smartphones comprised 67 percent of handset sales in October and November, compared to 18 percent for messaging devices and just 15 percent for basic phones.
















As for individual phone models, Apple dominated the competition in the first two months of the holiday quarter by taking the top three spots for best-selling handsets. The iPhone 4S was the most popular, followed by the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS. The Samsung Galaxy S 4G took fourth place, followed by the Samsung Galaxy S II. Devices by HTC, Motorola, LG and Samsung rounded out the rest of the top 10.











It's possible Apple will have caught up to Android even more when the month of December is included in market share calculations. Christmas Day iOS activations appear to have outnumbered Android activations by 1.6 million units, though those numbers include tablets and media players in addition to smartphones.



Google Android boss Andy Rubin revealed last month that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day activations totaled 3.7 million devices, while Flurry Analytics reported that 6.8 million new iOS and Android devices were activated on Christmas Day, implying 353 percent growth compared to earlier in the month.



Though Apple's older iPhone models have continued to sell well, pent up demand for the iPhone 4S is likely the largest growth factor for iOS in the smartphone market. After reaching a peak in the second quarter of calendar 2011, iPhone sales actually declined sequentially in the third quarter of the year as customers held off on purchasing new handsets in anticipation of a refresh.











Apple is widely expected to report soaring iPhone sales when it announces its December quarter results on Tuesday, Jan. 24. The consensus estimate among a poll of professional analysts stands at 29.74 million, while the average forecast among independent analysts and bloggers is 33.4 million units.



The iPhone's growth momentum could also carry into 2012, as a recent survey of North American consumers revealed that 54 percent plan on buying an iPhone.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 63
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    Here, slappy, slappy...



    ...who's a good boy...



    ...roll over, play dead.
  • Reply 2 of 63
    aizmovaizmov Posts: 989member
    Microsoft and RIM have become irrelevant fast. The numbers Apple pulled off are remarkable given the breadth of the Android handsets variations.
  • Reply 3 of 63
    It's an amazing smart Phone. So no wonder they are doing so well. But 17% up !!! Oh boy oh boy! That' more then I expected. I hope they keep a similar design for the next iteration. That's about when my contract has to be renewed. Else I may just upgrade from iP4 to iP4S which to my knowledge is already quite a jump.
  • Reply 4 of 63
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hill60 View Post


    Here, slappy, slappy...



    ...who's a good boy...



    ...roll over, play dead.



    I don't think slappy (or is it slapppy?) is for real. He is just too good to be true.
  • Reply 5 of 63
    nairbnairb Posts: 253member
    I am surprised that android did so well. A lull in android sales was expected before the ICS devices hit the US. I thought this lull would be bigger than it appears to have been.





    Maybe 4G has a lot to do with android performing this well with four 4G devices in top 10. Will be interesting to see what happens when iPhone releases a 4G device.
  • Reply 6 of 63
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Nairb View Post


    I am surprised that android did so well. A lull in android sales was expected before the ICS devices hit the US. I thought this lull would be bigger than it appears to have been.





    Maybe 4G has a lot to do with android performing this well with four 4G devices in top 10. Will be interesting to see what happens when iPhone releases a 4G device.



    With Siri and everything the iPhone has come a little closer to be an AI, but I think it still has a way to go before it can release a 4G device on it's own.
  • Reply 7 of 63
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hill60 View Post


    Here, slappy, slappy...



    ...who's a good boy...



    ...roll over, play dead.



    Lol



    SlapHappy's having a smoke
  • Reply 8 of 63
    aknabiaknabi Posts: 211member
    People who went the "cheap" Android route only to discover what a terrible UX it actually has (not to mention the fragmentation issue or being orphaned a few months later by their vendor as happened with the Moto Milestone which was in theory a hero Android device)... as those contracts run out you could see people seeing the advantages of the Apple eco-system.
  • Reply 9 of 63
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    Put in perspective, if Apple did sell 35M iPhones worldwide in the last quarter, it would be around 25% of the estimated total smartphone sales during that time period. That's an impressive percentage considering the numerous players.
  • Reply 10 of 63
    red oakred oak Posts: 1,087member
    All done without Apple on T-Mobile.



    This will be a key effort I imagine for 2012
  • Reply 11 of 63
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rabbit_Coach View Post


    I don't think slappy (or is it slapppy?) is for real. He is just too good to be true.



    I believe he's a Poe and thus a troll. No Android sites collaborate with him. To claim Android has marketshare is one thing but to even say iOS is dead is borderline insane.
  • Reply 12 of 63
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aknabi View Post


    People who went the "cheap" Android route only to discover what a terrible UX it actually has (not to mention the fragmentation issue or being orphaned a few months later by their vendor as happened with the Moto Milestone which was in theory a hero Android device)... as those contracts run out you could see people seeing the advantages of the Apple eco-system.



    FWIW with the exception of the LG (never heard of it) none of the android devices listed are cheap ones (well the s4g is old)
  • Reply 13 of 63
    ko024ko024 Posts: 68member
    That first graph is just beautiful... I was hoping for that trend, but those numbers are simply amazing... Giddy up aapl.....
  • Reply 14 of 63
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Amazing considering the number of devices running Android vs iOS. Even more amazing that a nearly 3 year old phone is beating out one of Samsung's flagship phones. I thought Galaxy with the bigger screen and 4G LTE was supposed to smoke iPhone?
  • Reply 15 of 63
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Shareholder smiley time.
  • Reply 16 of 63
    A surge in sales around the release of the new iPhone is to be expected. What these sales numbers don?t tells us?.is how many are new activations. With the assumed loyalty of iPhone owners?the 4s should have been the benefactor of a lot of 3gs owners?ready for an update.
  • Reply 17 of 63
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chrispoe View Post


    A surge in sales around the release of the new iPhone is to be expected. What these sales numbers don?t tells us?.is how many are new activations. With the assumed loyalty of iPhone owners?the 4s should have been the benefactor of a lot of 3gs owners?ready for an update.



    The number of updates vs new activations is irrelevant in a discussion of market share. Market share is simply the percentage of total units sold during a given time period (or, less frequently, the percentage of total dollars spent). From a market share perspective, it doesn't matter if they were new users or upgrades.



    From an installed base perspective, of course, it matters - but that's not what's being discussed here.
  • Reply 18 of 63
    peteopeteo Posts: 402member
    What do you guys think the Max penetration of smart phones will be in the US? I cant see it going over 80% any time soon. If so there's only 13% of market left for every one to fight over. Soon we will see over saturation and growth of over all US smart phone market will slow. I guess international markets (china, India) are were the action is going to be. Great to see apple getting into those markets, but since those are more price sensitive it might be a tough battle.
  • Reply 19 of 63
    Of course there will be a slight uptick with a new model from Apple. A new iPhone released within that time frame will generate a perceived momentum with market share. Please remember that this uptick is in direct relation to a new product release. Mark my words. As 1st and 2nd quarter approaches, iOS share will quickly return to its proper levels, and will continue to drop year to year.
  • Reply 20 of 63
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chrispoe View Post


    A surge in sales around the release of the new iPhone is to be expected. What these sales numbers don?t tells us?.is how many are new activations. With the assumed loyalty of iPhone owners?the 4s should have been the benefactor of a lot of 3gs owners?ready for an update.



    Correct. Nice to know that some can read these reports objectively.
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