AppleInsider Staff
For the first time since the end of 2012, Apple's iPhone edged out all devices running Android for shipments in the U.S., becoming not only the top device, but also the top domestic platform for the quarter.
The latest data from Kantar Worldpanel, published on Wednesday, shows that Apple was responsible for 47.7 percent of smartphones shipped in the U.S. during the December quarter. Led by the debut of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple managed to top the plethora of devices running Android by the slimmest of margins — Â 0.1 percent.
Unsurprisingly, Apple's flagship iPhone 6 was the best-selling smartphone in the U.S., and was also the most popular smartphone to give as a gift. Somewhat interestingly, Kantar says that Samsung's Galaxy S5 was the second-best selling smartphone, making it unclear whether the research firm lumped the iPhone 6 and larger iPhone 6 Plus together as one model.
With iOS and Android accounting for virtually all American smartphone sales, there was little room left for competitors: Microsoft's Windows Phone took a distant third place with 3.8 percent, while BlackBerry managed just 0.3 percent of devices shipped.
"While the success of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus is unprecedented, this quarter's performance also points to Apple having its strongest portfolio ever," said Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. "With a range of devices available at different price points in both contract and pre-pay Apple was able to take advantage of a weaker Android offering at the premium end of the market."
The new results also spotlight Apple's success in China, where almost a quarter of consumers who bought an iPhone during the quarter were purchasing their first smartphone. The iPhone accounted for 21.5 percent of smartphones shipped in the period, increasing Apple's share from 19 percent a year ago.
The launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus also chipped away at Android's dominance in Europe, where the platform's share declined by 3.8 percentage points year over year to 66.1 percent. Apple's iOS platform, meanwhile, rose 6.2 points across the continent, and ranged from a 12.9 percent share in Spain to 42 percent in Great Britain.
The global success of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus propelled Apple to sales of a massive 74.5 million units last quarter, shattering its previous record.
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34 Comments
Probably a lot of people who started out with an Android "smart"phone, who got tired of the bugs and decided to move up to a real smartphone. Of course, since they don't see a difference between the Galaxy Ace and the Galaxy S5(not that there's a huge one) Android is now junk to them and the iPhone was the only option. Still an aspirational gadget.
It is truly an achievement when you consider the price difference too. Of course a lot of this could be due to more honest reporting somehow entering the equation and the gazillion percent lead Android crap had was never quite as large as the media would have had us believe in the first place. Perhaps Samscum have cut back on paying off the analysts. It is also noticeable 'other' is not doing too well. 'They' usually have very large numbers in these things and I always ask who 'they' are and usually get a snippy reply from some smart ass with a list of companies I have never heard of. I can see why BB shares are doing well ...:rolleyes: Meanwhile Microshit should give up and go back to doing what they do well ... Oh wait a minute ... :D
I’m getting kinda tired of these “my penis is bigger than your’s” articles. We harp about how Apple takes the majority of profits and how market share is meaningless, then turn around and obsess over market share. Isn’t it enough that Apple is the most important tech company of our era?
[quote name="lkrupp" url="/t/184639/iphone-6-launch-led-apple-to-47-7-share-of-us-market-edging-androids-47-6#post_2671009"]I’m getting kinda tired of these “my penis is bigger than your’s” articles. We harp about how Apple takes the majority of profits and how market share is meaningless, then turn around and obsess over market share. Isn’t it enough that Apple is the most important tech company of our era? [/quote] I agree basically but after all those years of the US media proudly crowing over S. Korea's dominance in volume sales over a US company (profits be damned), it seems only fair to allow AI readers some alternative data for a change.
Apologies, I'm a bit confused here. The article talks about iPhones (noting that the iPhone 6 launch propelled Apple's market share), but the data seems to be about the operating systems (iOS vs Android vs Blackberry, etc). If the data (and graph) are about operating systems does this take into account both the phones and pads, or simply the phones?