Kantar: Apple Finishes 2016 as Top Smartphone Brand in GB and US

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Feb 8, 2017) - The latest smartphone OS sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows that in the fourth quarter of 2016, iOS continued year-on-year growth across all tracked regions except Urban China. Android gained in most markets, except the US, Great Britain, and Australia.

"Although Android still has a larger ecosystem, Apple was the top brand in the US and Great Britain for the final quarter of 2016," said Lauren Guenveur, Consumer Insight Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. "In EU5, Samsung was first, with Huawei second. In Urban China, Apple was not able to recapture first place, as Huawei continued to hold that spot."

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

In the US, iOS accounted for 44.4% of smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2016, up from 39.1% in the same period of 2015. Android took 54.4% of sales, down 4.7 percentage points from 4Q 2015.

"iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were the top sellers for the holiday period, netting their highest share since their release in mid-September, and representing 28% of smartphones sold in the fourth quarter," Guenveur added. "Despite the expected fallout from Samsung's problems with the Galaxy Note 7, the company maintained a share of 28.5%, down only 0.9 percentage points from one year earlier. Samsung's Galaxy S7 flagship device, announced at Mobile World Congress 2016, was the third best-selling phone in the fourth quarter. Samsung's decision to not announce the Galaxy S8 at Mobile World Congress 2017 is not expected to have a large impact on sales, as rumors circulate that the launch will be close to the traditional April date that customers have come to anticipate."

Android accounted for 50.6% of smartphone sales in Great Britain in the fourth quarter of 2016 vs. iOS at 47.6%. This marked a slight decline for Android from 51.9% in the same period the previous year, while iOS grew nine percentage points.

"Apple achieved its highest loyalty ever in Britain, with 96% of those Apple owners who replaced their phones buying another iPhone," reported Dominic Sunnebo, Business Unit Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Europe. "More than 50% of iPhone 7 buyers were upgrading from iPhone 6 as the brand's lifecycle continues to hover around 24 months. Beyond Apple and Samsung's combined 73% share of smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2016, the market remained fragmented. Brands like OnePlus, Alcatel, and Google experienced an increase from the prior year, while big names like Sony, LG, and HTC declined."

Android accounted for 80.7% of Q4 smartphone sales in Urban China, an increase of 9.3 percentage points year-over-year. iOS made up 19.1% of smartphone sales, down from 27.1% in the same period a year earlier.

"iPhone 7 remained the top-selling model in the Chinese market in the last quarter of 2016 at 6.8%. However, its share was smaller than last year's iPhone 6s, which represented 10.5% of sales in the fourth quarter of 2015," said Tamsin Timpson, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia. "Looking at the broader market, there was a shift in popularity. The Top 10 list of smartphone models sold in Urban China in 2015 consisted of just three manufacturers Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi. In 2016, a fourth vendor was added to that list -- Oppo."

Smartphone sales were down overall in the last quarter of 2016 compared to the final quarter of 2015, Guenveur pointed out.

"Considering iPhone 7's top-seller status, the absence of a round headphone jack was not a big issue for consumers -- and the fallout from the Galaxy Note 7 battery problems was not a significant factor either. As smartphones become commodities, there are fewer compelling reasons to frequently buy a new one, even when holiday discounts are plentiful. Technology continuously moves forward, and while smartphones remain at the center of many new technologies like VR, connected home, and IoT, they are no longer the most exciting devices in the household," she concluded.

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.

Smartphone OS Sales Share (%)
	Germany	3 m/e Dec'15	3 m/e Dec'16	% pt. Change				USA	3 m/e Dec'15		3 m/e Dec'16	% pt. Change
	Android	72.6	75.6	3.0				Android	59.1		54.4	-4.7
	iOS	20.2	21.6	1.4				iOS	39.1		44.4	5.3
	Windows	6.4	2.5	-3.9				Windows	1.6		0.8	-0.8
	Other	0.8	0.3	-0.5				Other	0.2		0.3	0.1
	GB	3 m/e Dec'15	3 m/e Dec'16	% pt. Change				China	3 m/e Dec'15		3 m/e Dec'16	% pt. Change
	Android	51.9	50.6	-1.3				Android	71.4		80.7	9.3
	iOS	38.6	47.6	9.0				iOS	27.1		19.1	-8.0
	Windows	9.2	1.7	-7.5				Windows	1.2		0.1	-1.1
	Other	0.4	0.1	-0.3				Other	0.2		0.1	-0.1
	France	3 m/e Dec'15	3 m/e Dec'16	% pt. Change				Australia	3 m/e Dec'15		3 m/e Dec'16	% pt. Change
	Android	70	72.2	2.2				Android	53.5		52.3	-1.2
	iOS	20.5	24.4	3.9				iOS	39.6		44.9	5.3
	Windows	8.7	3.3	-5.4				Windows	6.3		1.9	-4.4
	Other	0.8	0.2	-0.6				Other	0.6		0.9	0.3
	Italy	3 m/e Dec'15	3 m/e Dec'16	% pt. Change				Japan	3 m/e Dec'15		3 m/e Dec'16	% pt. Change
	Android	77.1	79.1	2.0				Android	44.4		44.8	0.4
	iOS	14.2	16.6	2.4				iOS	54.1		54.7	0.6
	Windows	8.2	3.9	-4.3				Windows	0		0.2	0.2
	Other	0.5	0.4	-0.1				Other	1.5		0.3	-1.2
	Spain	3 m/e Dec'15	3 m/e Dec'16	% pt. Change				EU5	3 m/e Dec'15		3 m/e Dec'16	% pt. Change
	Android	86.3	87.2	0.9				Android	71.1		73.1	1.9
	iOS	12.2	12.3	0.1				iOS	21.1		24.1	3.0
	Windows	1.5	0.5	-1.0				Windows	7.2		2.6	-4.6
	Other	0	0	0.0				Other	0.6		0.2	-0.3

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