Kantar Worldpanel ComTech: iPhone 7 and 7 Plus Boost iOS Share in US

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Nov 9, 2016) - The latest smartphone OS sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows a strong 5.2% percentage point US market share increase for iOS during the third quarter of 2016 to 34.2%. Both iOS and Android made gains across most of the EU5 countries. However, Android posted a 3.3 percentage point decline in the US from 66.7 to 63.4%, while iOS share fell in Germany from 17.5% to 15% and in Urban China from 18.7% to 14.2%.

Europe's big five markets include Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

"In the US, the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models made an immediate impact, becoming the best-selling smartphones in the month of September at 17.1%," said Lauren Guenveur, Consumer Insight Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. "Strong sales of the iPhone 7 and the lower-priced iPhone 6s, the second best-selling device in the US in September, contributed to an overall growth of iOS to 34.2% in the third quarter of 2016.

"Despite some sales from the beleaguered Samsung Galaxy Note 7, still technically available through the month of September, Samsung posted a year-on-year decline from 36.9% to 33.8% of US smartphone sales in the third quarter," Guenveur continued. "The holiday sales season may prove to be more challenging than normal for Samsung, who competes head-to-head with Apple during this crucial time of year. Fallout from the Note 7 recall could have an unintended impact on continuing sales of other, similarly-named Samsung devices (chiefly the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge), as consumers may not always understand the difference between the model names. However, deep holiday discounts, as we saw with the Galaxy S6 last year, may counteract any expected negative impact, as the driving reason for choice among US consumers remains finding a good deal on the price of the phone."

"In Great Britain, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were top-sellers during the month of September, accounting for 15.1% of sales," said Dominic Sunnebo, Business Unit Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Europe. "In the third quarter of 2016, iOS accounted for 40.6% of smartphone sales, a 2.4 percentage point increase from the same period a year ago. It's interesting to note the continued success of the iPhone SE in Britain, accounting for 8.5% of sales in the quarter vs. a share of just 3.5% in the US."

"Britain is the only market where Samsung made year-on-year gains, totaling 30.4% of smartphone sales," Sunnebo added. "In Italy, Huawei replaced Samsung as the reigning smartphone leader to become the top brand sold at 27.3%, a 15.2 percentage point gain vs. the third quarter 2015. Samsung accounted for 24.7% of smartphone sales in Italy, a decline from 40.6%. In Spain, Huawei and Samsung are now neck-and-neck, with Samsung edging out Huawei 24.2% vs. 23.3%."

In Urban China, Android accounted for 85.3% of smartphone sales in the third quarter of 2016, its second highest share ever in this market.

"Oppo continues to see significant growth, gaining 8.2 percentage points over the past year to become the 4^th largest manufacturer in Urban China with 11.2% of smartphone sales. The Oppo R9 overtook the iPhone 6s as the best-selling device in the third quarter," reported Tamsin Timpson, Strategic Insight Director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia. "iOS posted yet another year-on-year decline to 14.2% of smartphone sales in the third quarter of 2016. Importantly, this marks a period-on-period return to growth in sales, up from 13.5% in the three months ending in August. With supply constrained on the iPhone 7, and particularly the 7 Plus, this positive turn for Apple is a good sign, suggesting that as supply grows to meet demand, Apple will be able to turn the tide in Urban China."

Note: The Kantar Worldpanel ComTech dataviz can be embedded into online articles for a visual representation of Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Smartphone OS market share data. Click here to copy the embed code.

To view an HTML version of the summary data and an optional PDF file, please visit:
http://www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/News/-iPhone-7-and-7-Plus-Boost-iOS-Share-in-US

Additional insights are available in our blog post:
http://www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/News/Smartphones-in-the-USA-A-Two-Year-Retrospective

Smartphone OS Sales Share (%)
Germany	3 m/e Sep'15	3 m/e Sep'16	% pt. Change			USA		3 m/e Sep'15		3 m/e Sep'16	% pt. Change
Android	73.9	81.1	7.2			Android		66.7		63.4	-3.3
iOS	17.5	15.0	-2.5			iOS		29		34.2	5.2
Windows	7.6	3.3	-4.3			Windows		3.9		1.9	-2.0
Other	1.1	0.6	-0.5			Other		0.4		0.5	0.1
GB	3 m/e Sep'15	3 m/e Sep'16	% pt. Change			China		3 m/e Sep'15		3 m/e Sep'16	% pt. Change
Android	51.6	55.7	4.1			Android		77.8		85.3	7.5
iOS	38.2	40.6	2.4			iOS		18.7		14.2	-4.5
Windows	9.8	3.6	-6.2			Windows		3.0		0.0	-3.0
Other	0.4	0.1	-0.3			Other		0.5		0.4	-0.1
France	3 m/e Sep'15	3 m/e Sep'16	% pt. Change			Australia		3 m/e Sep'15		3 m/e Sep'16	% pt. Change
Android	72.3	74.2	1.9			Android		54.5		58.2	3.7
iOS	14.6	19.9	5.3			iOS		36.8		37.1	0.3
Windows	12.3	5.2	-7.1			Windows		7.4		2.3	-5.1
Other	0.8	0.7	-0.1			Other		1.3		2.4	1.1
Italy	3 m/e Sep'15	3 m/e Sep'16	% pt. Change			Japan		3 m/e Sep'15		3 m/e Sep'16	% pt. Change
Android	76.4	82.1	5.7			Android		60.7		61.7	1.0
iOS	10	12.8	2.8			iOS		38.3		37.4	-0.9
Windows	12.6	4.8	-7.8			Windows		0.5		0.5	0.0
Other	1	0.2	-0.8			Other		0.5		0.3	-0.2
Spain	3 m/e Sep'15	3 m/e Sep'16	% pt. Change			EU5		3 m/e Sep'15		3 m/e Sep'16	% pt. Change
Android	90.4	93	2.6			Android		71.8		76.9	5.1
iOS	6.3	6.3	0.0			iOS		18.1		18.9	0.9
Windows	3	0.7	-2.3			Windows		9.4		3.8	-5.6
Other	0.4	0	-0.4			Other		0.8		0.4	-0.4

About Kantar Worldpanel ComTech's Smartphone OS Market Share Data
Kantar Worldpanel ComTech's smartphone OS market share data provides the media and businesses with access to the most up-to-date sales and market share figures for the major smartphone operating systems.

This information is based on research extracted from the Kantar Worldpanel ComTech global consumer panel. ComTech is the largest continuous consumer research mobile phone tracking panel of its kind in the world, conducting over one million interviews per year in Europe alone. ComTech tracks mobile phone behavior -- including phone purchases, bills/airtime, source of purchase, and usage. It also delivers additional data to promote an understanding of the drivers of share changes, and consumer insight market dynamics. All consumer data in this release excludes enterprise sales.

About Kantar Worldpanel
Kantar Worldpanel is the global expert in shoppers' behaviour.

Through continuous monitoring, advanced analytics and tailored solutions, Kantar Worldpanel inspires successful decisions by brand owners, retailers, market analysts and government organisations globally.

With over 60 years' experience, a team of 3,500, and services covering 60 countries directly or through partners, Kantar Worldpanel turns purchase behaviour into competitive advantage in markets as diverse as FMCG, impulse products, fashion, baby, telecommunications and entertainment, among many others.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantarworldpanel.com.
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About Kantar

Kantar is one of the world's leading data, insight and consultancy companies. Working together across the whole spectrum of research and consulting disciplines, its specialist brands, employing 30,000 people, provide inspirational insights and business strategies for clients in 100 countries. Kantar is part of WPP and its services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies.

For further information, please visit us at www.kantar.com
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