The latest IDC stats could be considered bad news for Apple. iOS’s market share in the third-quarter dropped from 14.4% last year to 12.9% this year. While that sounds bad, there are plenty of reasons why Apple executives aren’t hitting the panic button just yet.
First, Apple isn’t competing with most of the Android market, which spans all price-points, only the top end of it. Samsung has been struggling to make money from its flagship handsets, with most of its profits coming from low-end models, while HTC has been in all kinds of trouble. Looking at Apple’s market share in the smartphone market as a whole is the most academic of exercises.
Another point in Apple’s favor: While market share is down, shipments are up! 33.8M in the quarter, compared to last year’s figures of 26.9M in the same period last year.
Apple also saw iPhone buyers standing pat in Q3 while waiting for the new iPhone 5s and 5c to be released. The two models of the iPhone, released in the last 10 days of the quarter, saw a record 9M in sales in just their opening weekend.
Finally, the chart below may be the best illustration of why Apple execs aren’t reaching for the Ambien every night at bed time.
The average selling price of an Android phone in Q3 was $268. The average selling price of an iPhone: $635. (Includes the subsidies from carriers.)
