Despite record sales numbers for the iPhone, Apple’s smartphone marketshare continues to falter, and Samsung’s share of Android handset sales is feeling pressure in key markets from competitors.
A new report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech released Monday shows Apple ceding the top of the podium in most regions once again to handsets running Google’s Android operating system. Apple’s iOS took 18.5 percent of the market in Europe, 43.9 percent in the U.S., and and 19 percent in China to Android’s 68.6 percent, 50.6 percent, and 78.6 percent, respectively.
Apple continues to be top dog in Japan, with the iPhone accounting for 68.7% of all smartphones that were sold in the Japanese market for the fourth quarter. It was the top-selling smartphone at all three of Japan’s top wireless carriers, with 58.1% of the sales at NTT DoCoMo, 91.7% at SoftBank, and grabbing 63.7% at KDDI.
Samsung is starting to feel a poke from behind from competing Android device makers, as the South Korean firm’s marketshare dropped 2.2 points in Europe, to 40.3%. Chinese marketshare stayed flat, coming in at 23.7%.
China local brand Xiaomi overtook both Apple and Samsung to become the top selling smartphone in China. This is a true achievement, considering the brand started in 2010, and is sold almost exclusively online.
“The combination of high spec devices, low prices and an ability to create unprecedented buzz through online and social platforms has proved an irresistible proposition for the Chinese,” said Dominic Sunnebo, Kantar’s strategic insight director.
BlackBerry continues to be on its way to becoming a historic footnote, as its marketshare continues to dwindle in most markets.
Meanwhile, Windows Phone has shown signs of growth, with market share climbing from 2.4% to 4.3% in the U.S., from 5.6% to 10.3% in the five biggest European markets, and from 3% to 5.2% in Australia. Latin America bucked the trend, as Windows Phone’s share of the market dropped from 6.8% in Q4 2012 down to 4.9% in Q4 2013.
