Apple's iOS takes phone sales share in US, Australia prior to iPhone 5s launch
Apple's share of smartphone sales through the September quarter nudged up 1.3 percentage points in the U.S., 2.2 points in Latin America, and a dramatic 7 points in Australia, while slipping 6.4 points in China and losing 2.3 points across Western Europe.
The shifts, detailed in a report by Kantar Worldpanel, illustrate differences across territorial markets globally.
Kantar's U.S. figures also harmonize with the direction of numbers from comScore last month, which similarly showed Apple taking American phone share at the expense of Android and BlackBerry this summer.
Nokia's Lumia running Windows Phone gained 1.9 percentage points to claim 4.6 percent of U.S. sales, while BlackBerry fell 1.2 points to end up with just 1 percent of the quarter's sales.
In Australia, Android fell even more dramatically, losing 10.8 points over the previous year to end up with 55.3 percent of sales. Apple was up 7 points, reaching 32.9 percent of sales, while Nokia claimed 9.3 percent and Blackberry 1.3 percent.
In Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, Kantar reports that iOS sales are up 2.2 percent YoY in the September quarter, but account for just 6.6 percent of all sales. Android share is up dramatically, taking 23.1 percentage points.
The big loser in that region is BlackBerry, down 9.2 percentage points, falling from 14.3 percent to just 5.1 percent of new sales in one year.
Kantar analyst Dominic Sunnebo noted in the report, "August is traditionally a quiet month for Apple as consumers wait for the release of new models, and strong sales of the iPhone 5S and 5C at the end of September did not manage to make up for the lull. The full impact of the new iPhones will be seen at Christmas when iOS is expected to bounce back strongly in Britain, the US and Australia."
Apple's iOS reported a loss of 6.4 percent of all phone set sales in China, despite the company's YoY sales growth of 6 percent in the region. Kantar noted that Apple's sales are "expected to strengthen at Christmas."
Apple reported revenues of $5.733 billion for China in the quarter, a sequential increase of 24 percent, and revenues of $27 billion for greater China in the fiscal year, an increase of 14 percent.
Apple was down 1 percentage point in Great Britain, half a percentage point in France and a point and a half in Germany. Apple lost the most market share ground in Italy, where it now has a reported 10.2 percent share of the phone market, lower than Nokia's 13.7 percent share, the feature of the report emphasized by Kantar and repeated by much of the media.
Kantar's numbers reflect sales occurring in Apple's fourth fiscal quarter, historically one of the lowest quarters for the company as it gears up for its important Q1 holiday season. The numbers also only reflect smartphone sales, ignoring the impact of iPad sales, which have been particularly important in growing Apple's sales in China and expanding the influence of iOS in education and in the enterprise.
The shifts, detailed in a report by Kantar Worldpanel, illustrate differences across territorial markets globally.
Kantar's U.S. figures also harmonize with the direction of numbers from comScore last month, which similarly showed Apple taking American phone share at the expense of Android and BlackBerry this summer.
Three growth regions for iOS
In the U.S., Kantar reported that Android fell 2.5 points over the year ago September quarter to reach 57.3 percent of sales, while Apple inched up to claim 35.9 percent of sales on the cusp of the release of new iPhone 5c and 5s models.Nokia's Lumia running Windows Phone gained 1.9 percentage points to claim 4.6 percent of U.S. sales, while BlackBerry fell 1.2 points to end up with just 1 percent of the quarter's sales.
"The full impact of the new iPhones will be seen at Christmas when iOS is expected to bounce back strongly in Britain, the US and Australia" - Kantar
In Australia, Android fell even more dramatically, losing 10.8 points over the previous year to end up with 55.3 percent of sales. Apple was up 7 points, reaching 32.9 percent of sales, while Nokia claimed 9.3 percent and Blackberry 1.3 percent.
In Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, Kantar reports that iOS sales are up 2.2 percent YoY in the September quarter, but account for just 6.6 percent of all sales. Android share is up dramatically, taking 23.1 percentage points.
The big loser in that region is BlackBerry, down 9.2 percentage points, falling from 14.3 percent to just 5.1 percent of new sales in one year.
Kantar analyst Dominic Sunnebo noted in the report, "August is traditionally a quiet month for Apple as consumers wait for the release of new models, and strong sales of the iPhone 5S and 5C at the end of September did not manage to make up for the lull. The full impact of the new iPhones will be seen at Christmas when iOS is expected to bounce back strongly in Britain, the US and Australia."
iOS phone share falls in China
Dramatic increases in generic Android phones were also apparent in China, where the OS now accounts for 81.1 percent of sales, albeit not in a way that really benefits Google. All other phone platforms saw a drop in overall sales share.Apple's iOS reported a loss of 6.4 percent of all phone set sales in China, despite the company's YoY sales growth of 6 percent in the region. Kantar noted that Apple's sales are "expected to strengthen at Christmas."
Apple reported revenues of $5.733 billion for China in the quarter, a sequential increase of 24 percent, and revenues of $27 billion for greater China in the fiscal year, an increase of 14 percent.
iOS in Western Europe
In Western Europe (Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy and Spain), Kantar reported iOS losing 2.3 points of phone sales share in the quarter. Apple was actually up 2.4 percentage points in Spain, which has the highest percentage of Android users, now at 90 percent.Apple was down 1 percentage point in Great Britain, half a percentage point in France and a point and a half in Germany. Apple lost the most market share ground in Italy, where it now has a reported 10.2 percent share of the phone market, lower than Nokia's 13.7 percent share, the feature of the report emphasized by Kantar and repeated by much of the media.
Terribly confused as to why people think Nokia's sub 150 Euro Windows Phone outselling the 600 Euro iPhone is some sort of sign of success.
— Stefan Constantine (@WhatTheBit)
Kantar's numbers reflect sales occurring in Apple's fourth fiscal quarter, historically one of the lowest quarters for the company as it gears up for its important Q1 holiday season. The numbers also only reflect smartphone sales, ignoring the impact of iPad sales, which have been particularly important in growing Apple's sales in China and expanding the influence of iOS in education and in the enterprise.
Comments
Wow this is a great look at Apple's declining marketshare in China in the recent past before Apple launched the most successful smart phones in the history of smart phones, the 5S and 5C which sold 9 million in a weekend alone.
It is conceivable, that Apple, or any other company for that matter, can sell more devices than the previous year and still loose market share.
Another stat one should look at, if he is to come to some logical conclusion about the market, is to compare like models. For example, how many Samsung Galaxy S3's and S4's did they sell compared to Apple's iPhone 4S and 5 sales. In other words compare each company's flagship models from the last two years with each other and not lump in the entire Samsung range and LG range and the Nokia range etc. vs. Apple's two or three very top model offerings. This can explain many worldwide usage statistics we are seeing, where Apple, despite their so called declining market share, still have much better than average usage statistics.
The other thing to take into account is where does Apple compete in? It is definitely not being carried by China Mobile yet and it has practically no entry into the Indian market and we haven't even begun to talk about Africa or South America yet where many Android variants are already available in those markets.
This story is far more complicated than any quick blog can explain, or even have the capacity to do so.
Yes, but if you read the article, iPhone sales YoY are up in China. UP.
So Apple should fight harder for a bigger piece of the "I can't afford it" market?
Interesting! The number that stands out to me is that Android's lead over Apple in Australia fell from 40% to 21% in a year, for the quarter before iP5S/C launch.
That's a massive defection rate in a mature market, suggesting that, for whatever reasons, Android has gone stale (is 'on the nose') with consumers rich enough to afford better. Apple might well take the overall phone market share lead here by next quarter.
That will come with matte screened MacBook Pro's and inbuilt Blueray drives.
China is a story unto itself. The reality is that the rapid growth of smartphones here is now playing out at the very low end with a bunch of crappy, cheap, extremely poor performing android phones replacing crappy, cheap, feature phones. These phones are basically impotent devices used for texting just like the phones they replaced, and aren't even in the same ballpark as advanced smartphones. This is the problem when you try to group all android phones together as their is an incredibly wide variance in quality and performance.
Italy's economy is doing very badly. Its got the largest debt in Europe's history. No womder Apple lost market share there. Italians cant afford an iPhone. I'm surprised they can still afford to buy tissue paper in Italy. LMAO.. Italy has the worst economy in Europe now. No wonder Italy is the 5th largest economy in Europe behind Spain, France, UK and Germany.
Italy's economy is doing very badly. Its got the largest debt in Europe's history. No womder Apple lost market share there. Italians cant afford an iPhone. I'm surprised they can still afford to buy tissue paper in Italy. LMAO.. Italy has the worst economy in Europe now. No wonder Italy is the 5th largest economy in Europe behind Spain, France, UK and Germany.