Apple gains US smartphone share in August at expense of Android, Samsung

Posted:
in iPhone edited October 2015
The latest statistics from analytics firm comScore reveal Apple continued to chip away at Android's smartphone marketshare in the U.S. for the three-month period ending in August, while iPhone moved further away from second place Samsung.




Apple again ranked as the number one smartphone manufacturer with a 44.1 percent share of the market, up 0.6 percent from the end of May, according to comScore's report published on Tuesday. The gains were in stark contrast to runner-up Samsung, which lost 1.3 points over the same period to end August with a 27.4 percent marketshare.

LG enjoyed the highest rate of growth with a 0.9 percent jump, but the Korean company's overall standing is still below double digits at 9.1 percent. Motorola and HTC saw slight decreases in subscriber share to end the three-month term with 4.7 percent and 3.4 percent of the market, respectively.

Google's Android operating system reigned supreme in the U.S., accounting for 51.7 percent of all smartphones, but that metric is down 0.4 points sequentially. Apple's iPhone was the only platform to see gains in the August quarter, exhibiting strong demand in light of September's iPhone 6s debut.

Microsoft, BlackBerry and Symbian rounded out the top five and held relatively steady with a respective 2.9 percent, 1.2 percent and 0.1 percent of the market.

According to comScore's tally, 191.1 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three-month period ending in August, a number representing 77.1 percent mobile market penetration.

Apple is poised for another blockbuster December quarter with the recent launch of iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. At the end of September, the company announced iPhone 6s sales of more than 13 million units over launch weekend, breaking last year's record of 10 million units. Unlike 2014, however, Apple included China as an iPhone 6s launch country, a huge market from which some pundits expected better results.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    ronnronn Posts: 653member
    [B]Unlike 2014, however, Apple included China as an iPhone 6s launch country, a huge market from which some pundits expected better results.[/B]

    That makes absolutely no sense. What about the prior year when China was among the first countries during release and Apple sold 9 million iPhones? That's a difference of 4 million phones. And at a higher margin to boot.

    And Apple [B]couldn't [/B] include China through no fault of its own as regulators restricted the sale.
  • Reply 2 of 19
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:

    Google’s Android operating system reigned supreme in the U.S...

     

    Reigning supreme on mostly cheap junk phones is not what I would call a good thing. The top four Android brands add up to 44.6%. Apple is now at 44.1% which means Apple is selling almost many phones as the top four Android brands COMBINED! Android reigning supreme? Not hardly.

  • Reply 3 of 19
    Increasing market share by selling models introduced nearly a year ago is unheard of. Very remarkable. Especially when competitors launched refreshed models in recent months.
    I'm very interested to see what the numbers for Sept and Oct turn out to be.
  • Reply 4 of 19
    HA.
  • Reply 5 of 19
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member

    Android: combining the software on the phones of ALMOST EVERY OTHER COMPANY IN THE WORLD, comparing it with a SINGLE COMPANY, coming up with a higher number, and somehow thinking that's 'winning'.

     

    And they thought Jobs had reality distortion...

  • Reply 6 of 19
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,109member
    It would be interesting to see comparisons of OS versions from the same year--e.g., iOS 9 vs. Marshmallow, iOS 8 vs. Lollipop, iOS 7 vs. KitKat, etc. I bet KitKat is what's giving Android its perceived edge, and if you only counted the last two releases iOS usage numbers would blow Android out of the water.
  • Reply 7 of 19
    512ke512ke Posts: 782member

    Unlike 2014, however, Apple included China as an iPhone 6s launch country, a huge market from which some pundits expected better results.

     

    What do Apple's China sales have to do with an article about Apple's US smartphone share?

     

    Yes, Apple is also chipping away at Android in China, but this article was specifically about Apple's success in growing its marketshare at the expense of Android in the US.

  • Reply 8 of 19
    ronnronn Posts: 653member
    512ke wrote: »
    Unlike 2014, however, Apple included China as an iPhone 6s launch country, a huge market from which some pundits expected better results.

    What do Apple's China sales have to do with an article about Apple's US smartphone share?

    Yes, Apple is also chipping away at Android in China, but this article was specifically about Apple's success in growing its marketshare at the expense of Android in the US.

    You're so correct. Didn't even realize I didn't catch that when I commented earlier.
  • Reply 9 of 19
    prolineproline Posts: 222member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    Google's Android operating system reigned supreme in the U.S., accounting for 51.7 percent of all smartphones

    What on Earth are you smoking? Far from supreme, Android's U.S. market share maxed out at 53.4% in 2012 and has been in terminal stagnation for three years now. Meanwhile, Apple's share is going up and up. Considering that's one single company who's phones start at $450 U.S. handing it to the entire so-called Android ecosystem it's hard to call these numbers anything short of pathetic for Android. 

  • Reply 10 of 19
    crossladcrosslad Posts: 527member
    gtr wrote: »
    Android: combining the software on the phones of ALMOST EVERY OTHER COMPANY IN THE WORLD, comparing it with a SINGLE COMPANY, coming up with a higher number, and somehow thinking that's 'winning'.

    And they thought Jobs had reality distortion...

    Imagine what iOS market share would be if Apple gave it free to other OEMs. Android would be dead overnight.
  • Reply 11 of 19
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,544member
    crosslad wrote: »
    Imagine what iOS market share would be if Apple gave it free to other OEMs. Android would be dead overnight.

    So would Apple.
  • Reply 12 of 19
    spheric wrote: »
    So would Apple.

    You could be right. However if Apple decided to move away from being a hardware manufacturer, to being a software/search provider they could do this the same a Google do at the moment.
  • Reply 13 of 19
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    gtr wrote: »
    Android: combining the software on the phones of ALMOST EVERY OTHER COMPANY IN THE WORLD, comparing it with a SINGLE COMPANY, coming up with a higher number, and somehow thinking that's 'winning'.

    And they thought Jobs had reality distortion...

    The report compared Apple vs Samsung and iOS vs Android. Which is legit.
  • Reply 14 of 19
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Apples leasing program will have a huge effect next year. Mark my words.
  • Reply 15 of 19
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,544member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Crosslad View Post





    You could be right. However if Apple decided to move away from being a hardware manufacturer, to being a software/search provider they could do this the same a Google do at the moment.



    Yes, if Apple were a completely different company, running a completely different kind of business, they would be a completely different company, competing with completely different companies over completely different markets. 

     

    Instead, they stubbornly insist on being Apple, a company whose software and services do make money but primarily exist to sell hardware, which is so wildly profitable that they have become the single most valuable company in the world. 

     

    Sure Apple could abandon the business that's actually driving their business, but…er…I've been trying to figure out why people even imagine this to be a good idea, since the days of "Apple should license OS X" — just after licensing System 7 almost killed the company (among other missteps)...

  • Reply 16 of 19
    spheric wrote: »

    Yes, if Apple were a completely different company, running a completely different kind of business, they would be a completely different company, competing with completely different companies over completely different markets. 
    [drops mic and walks away]

    The reason they aren't becoming a completely different company, running a completely different business like Google's is because Google's business model and all others like it are evil and hungry for all the information in the world which they will then chew up and monetize. ????
  • Reply 17 of 19
    spheric wrote: »

    Yes, if Apple were a completely different company, running a completely different kind of business, they would be a completely different company, competing with completely different companies over completely different markets. 

    Instead, they stubbornly insist on being Apple, a company whose software and services do make money but primarily exist to sell hardware, which is so wildly profitable that they have become the single most valuable company in the world. 

    Sure Apple could abandon the business that's actually driving their business, but…er…I've been trying to figure out why people even imagine this to be a good idea, since the days of "Apple should license OS X" — just after licensing System 7 almost killed the company (among other missteps)...

    From the overly sarcastic tone of your reply to my earlier post, I assume you think that I am suggesting that Apple changes it's business model - you couldn't be further from the truth. My first post was meant to suggest that if Apple were to give away iOS to OEMs like Google does with Android, I think that the majority of OEMs would choose iOS over Android and Android woul be dead. The person that replied said that so would Apple, to which I replied not necessarily if they changed their business model to something similar to Google. In no way do I think that Apple should do this as I am a huge Apple fan and have converted many friends and family to purchase Apple products. In our house there are 4 iPhones, 2 iPads, a Mac mini, an Apple TV and numerous iPods.
    However the problem that Apple has is that it is now the most valuable company in the world and needs to keep selling more of its products every year to stay there. This will get more and more difficult as the market gets more and more saturated. When 50% of your income comes from one product you are also only one poor product from being in difficulty. You are also at the mercy of your suppliers and governments around the world. What would happen if Foxcon said we want 20% more to make your phones, Samsung said we want more to provide you with chips or China restricted imports of Apple good (even though they are made in China)? These are the threats that Porter identifies in his 5 forces model. Companies that get to the top very often do not stay there, just look at Nokia, Palm, Psion, Blackberry, Sony, Microsoft etc.
    I really hope Apple remain the worlds most valuable company for years to come, but history is not on its side I am afraid.
  • Reply 18 of 19
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,544member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Crosslad View Post









    From the overly sarcastic tone of your reply to my earlier post, I assume you think that I am suggesting that Apple changes it's business model - you couldn't be further from the truth. My first post was meant to suggest that if Apple were to give away iOS to OEMs like Google does with Android, I think that the majority of OEMs would choose iOS over Android and Android woul be dead. The person that replied said that so would Apple, to which I replied not necessarily if they changed their business model to something similar to Google. 

     

    Yes, that's a pretty succinct summary. I was the one who said that Apple would be dead if they licensed iOS — and that there's historical precedence for that. 

     

    I also said that if they were to completely change their business model to be Google, they wouldn't be Apple. IOW, if they were a different company, then, yes, they'd be a different company. The tautology follows from your argument, which, as you agree, is somewhat nonsensical.

     

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Crosslad View Post



    Companies that get to the top very often do not stay there, just look at Nokia, Palm, Psion, Blackberry, Sony, Microsoft etc.

    I really hope Apple remain the worlds most valuable company for years to come, but history is not on its side I am afraid.


     

    Of course not. Nothing is forever. 

Sign In or Register to comment.