If you’ll recall, back in calendar Q3 of 2013, things were looking down for our hero, Apple. The company had fallen behind arch-enemy Samsung in the U.S. smartphone market with 35% of the market, compared to Samsung’s 38%. Many observers theorized the reason for our hero’s peril was all the phone buyers who were waiting for the new models of the iPhone that would be launched in September. Turns out they were most likely correct.
Fast forward to last quarter, the three month period ended December 31, and that theory appears to be holding up.Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) just sent over its latest reports showing Apple has once again taken the lead thanks to a strong holiday quarter of iPhone sales.
Apple has increased its U.S. share to around 48%, while Samsung has dropped to 31%. Apple’s increase wasn’t completely at the expense of Samsung, as HTC (-8%) and BlackBerry (-2%) both gave ground. LG was able to hold its ground remaining at roughly 8% marketshare.
Activations data shows Apple taking 48% of holiday activations, up from 34% the previous quarter, while Android held 46%.
CIRP also notes that iOS users are spending more, as seen in the chart below:
“iOS customers have higher carrier bills, spending more on voice, texts, and data than Android buyers,” said Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. “Over half of iOS buyers spend over $100 per month, compared to one-third of Android customers. And, about one quarter of Android customers spend under $50 per month, compared to only 7% of iOS buyers.”
