Android Share Loss Continues in Europe Big Five Markets

Android Share Loss Continues in Europe “Big Five” Markets

Xiaomi returns to smartphone vendor leadership position in China

London, 2 September 2015 – The latest smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech for the three months ending July 2015 shows continued market share losses for the Android OS across Europe’s five largest markets, while Android’s share remained positive in the U.S.

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

“Android market share in Europe was negatively impacted by challenging market dynamics in Germany, France, and Great Britain,” reported Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. “In the U.S., performance was more of a level field between the two leading operating systems, as the iOS market share decline and Android share gain both decelerated.”

“The maturity of the European market is evident when looking at the declining number of first time smartphone buyers – in the 3 months ending July 2015, only 25% of smartphones sold went to first-time buyers versus 29% for the same period in 2014,” said Dominic Sunnebo, business unit director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Europe. “This type of market maturity increases the impact of churn on overall performance as we have seen with Android this time around – 27% of smartphone buyers across Europe left Android for iOS versus 9% in the US.”

“The U.S. market continued to be dominated by two players, Apple and Samsung, who together accounted for 64% of all smartphones sold,” Milanesi stated. “If share alone was not enough to demonstrate market dominance, our data also shows that these two vendors sold nine of the top ten best-selling smartphones in the three months ending July 2015 – with LG making a cameo appearance in the ranking.”

Tamsin Timpson, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia, explained, “In urban China, the market leadership battle is far from over, as Huawei was quickly dethroned by Xiaomi after reaching the top spot in June." She added, “Xiaomi takes advantage of the shortest replacement cycle in urban China, a mere 12 months against the overall smartphone average of 20 months.” Brand consideration for Huawei, however, is growing rapidly - now at 51% among consumers intending to upgrade in the next 3 months – Xiaomi reaching only 25%.”

“While market performance over the past three months might have lacked some excitement, things are about to change as Samsung’s recently-announced products begin to roll out across markets and Apple makes its big reveal on September 9, ”Milanesi said. “While all eyes will be on Apple’s new products, I would suggest people pay close attention to the current iPhone 6 and 6 Plus market performance, should the accustomed price drop occur after the September 9 product announcement. In the U.S., 32% of the overall sales of the iPhone 5s were generated after the launch of the iPhone 6.”

To view an HTML version of the summary data and an optional PDF file, please visit:www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/News/Android_Share_Loss_Continues_in_Europe_Big_Five_Markets

Smartphone OS Sales Share (%)
Germany / 3 m/e Jul 14 / 3 m/e Jul 15 / % pt. Change / USA / 3 m/e Jul 14 / 3 m/e Jul 15 / % pt. Change
Android / 82.4 / 73.7 / -8.7 / Android / 63.9 / 65.6 / 1.7
iOS / 9.5 / 15.2 / 5.7 / iOS / 31.4 / 30.1 / -1.3
Windows / 6.1 / 10.1 / 4.0 / Windows / 2.5 / 3.8 / 1.3
Other / 2.0 / 1.0 / -1.0 / Other / 2.2 / 0.5 / -1.7
GB / 3 m/e Jul 14 / 3 m/e Jul 15 / % pt. Change / China / 3 m/e Jul 14 / 3 m/e Jul 15 / % pt. Change
Android / 58.1 / 54.4 / -3.7 / Android / 84.6 / 79.1 / -5.5
iOS / 29.0 / 32.7 / 3.7 / iOS / 13.2 / 19.1 / 5.9
Windows / 11.0 / 12.0 / 1.0 / Windows / 1.1 / 1.5 / 0.4
Other / 1.9 / 0.9 / -1.0 / Other / 1.1 / 0.3 / -0.8
France / 3 m/e Jul 14 / 3 m/e Jul 15 / % pt. Change / Australia / 3 m/e Jul 14 / 3 m/e Jul 15 / % pt. Change
Android / 75.0 / 69.6 / -5.4 / Android / 66.6 / 56.1 / -10.5
iOS / 14.3 / 17.0 / 2.7 / iOS / 27.0 / 34.9 / 7.9
Windows / 8.7 / 12.6 / 3.9 / Windows / 5.6 / 6.9 / 1.3
Other / 2.0 / 0.8 / -1.2 / Other / 0.8 / 2.1 / 1.3
Italy / 3 m/e Jul 14 / 3 m/e Jul 15 / % pt. Change / Japan / 3 m/e Jul 14 / 3 m/e Jul 15 / % pt. Change
Android / 74.0 / 72.5 / -1.5 / Android / 69.9 / 62.9 / -7.0
iOS / 11.0 / 11.7 / 0.7 / iOS / 28.8 / 35.1 / 6.3
Windows / 13.0 / 14.5 / 1.5 / Windows / 0.5 / 0.1 / -0.4
Other / 2.0 / 1.3 / -0.7 / Other / 0.8 / 1.9 / 1.1
Spain / 3 m/e Jul 14 / 3 m/e Jul 15 / % pt. Change / EU5 / 3 m/e Jul 14 / 3 m/e Jul 15 / % pt. Change
Android / 88.6 / 89.4 / 0.8 / Android / 75.1 / 71.0 / -4.1
iOS / 6.2 / 6.6 / 0.4 / iOS / 14.5 / 17.0 / 2.5
Windows / 4.6 / 4.0 / -0.6 / Windows / 8.7 / 11.1 / 2.4
Other / 0.6 / 0.0 / -0.6 / Other / 1.7 / 0.9 / -0.8

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.

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 world leader in consumer knowledge and insights, based on continuous consumer panels. Its High Definition Inspiration™ approach combines market monitoring, advanced analytics, and tailored market research solutions that inspire successful actions by its clients. Kantar Worldpanel’s expertise about what people buy or use – and why – is recognised 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 helps brands grow in fields as diverse as FMCG, impulse products, fashion, baby, telecommunications and entertainment, and many others.

For further information, please visit:www.kantarworldpanel.com.

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About Kantar

Kantar is the data investment management division of WPP, and one of the world's largest insight, information, and consultancy groups. By connecting the diverse talents of its 12 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Kantar’s 27,000 employees work across 100 countries and the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to deliver business insights from every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune 500 companies.

For further information, please visit:www.kantar.com

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