Android Share Tops 75% in Europe S Largest Markets

Rev: 2016-08-July-1346 EDT

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Android Share Tops 75% in Europe’s Largest Markets

Apple iPhone SE Joins Top 10 List in US, GB, France, and China

London, July 13, 2016 – The latest smartphone OS data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows that Android accounted for 76.5% of smartphones sold in EU5 during the three months ending May 2016, gaining 6.0percentage points from the same period a year earlier. In China, Android accounted for nearly four out offive smartphones purchased,and captured 68.5% of salesin the US.

When measured from a brandrather than OS perspective, Apple is second across Europe, China, and the US. TheiPhone SE cracked the list of top ten smartphones sold in Great Britain, France, China, and the US during the latest three-month period, despite being heavily supply-constrained and available for only two months.

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

“Android has continued to achieve year-on-year growth across most regions, most notably in Italy, where it gained 10.2 percentage points, and now accounts for 80.9% of smartphone sales in the three months ending May 2016. That does not necessarily mean that iOS has continued to decline, but rather returned to growth in both France and Great Britain,” said Lauren Guenveur, Consumer Insight Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. “In France and Great Britain, iOS share grew period-on-period, accounting for 21% and 36% of those markets, respectively.”

In Europe’s largest five markets, Huawei has emerged as the third largest smartphone brand behind Samsung and Apple, growing 7.4% year-on-year to account for 12.5% of smartphone sales in the three months ending May 2016. In Italy and Spain, Huawei’s strongest EU markets, the company now accounts for nearly 21% of sales, with the P8 Lite remaining one the best-selling phones during the recent period. These two markets have also witnessed Samsung’s largest year-on-year declines, down 7.6 percentage pointsin Italy and 5.6 percentage pointsin Spain, while Samsung remained the top brand sold. Those countries have not seen Apple’s share decline as quickly.

“The rest of Europe reads a little differently,” observed Dominic Sunnebo, Business Unit Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Europe. “In France, Huawei trails local-hero brand Wiko, though its rate of growth suggests it could soon emerge as the third largest brand. In Germany, Samsung accounts for nearly half of all smartphones sold, with Apple and Huawei fighting for the remainder. And finally, in Great Britain, Android has its lowest sales share, at 58.6% vs. 75% or more elsewhere in Europe, and similarly, the brand battle is also much closer. Samsung accounts for 36.2% of smartphones sold in the period, with Apple trailing closely at 36%, thanks to a strong showing by the iPhone SE.”

“In Urban China, 79.4% of smartphones sold in the three months ending May 2016 were Android, of which 88% were local brands,” said Tamsin Timpson, Strategic Insight Director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia.“Huaweicontinued to top its best sales share ever at 25.6%, while Oppo posted the highest year-on-year gain at 6.1 percentage points, to reach 8% of sales. Embattled vendor Meizu, recently taken to court by Qualcomm, declined slightly to 5.8%, as did Xiaomi, to 19%. Apple remains in a delicate second place position, with 19.7% of smartphone sales. Samsung captured 9%.”

“Elsewhere in the world, Android’s shareis dominated by Samsung, Huawei, and a few local players. In the US, LG has emerged as a serious competitor, capturing 15.1% sales in the three months ending May 2016, and contributing to Android’s total share – increasing by 3.6 percentage pointsto 68.5%,” Guenveur added. “Salescontinue to be dominated by Samsung and Apple, and the Top 10 list of smartphones reflects that.The Galaxy S7 has become the top selling device at 11.1%, followed by the iPhone 6s with about 10% of smartphone sales during the period. The iPhone SE captured 3.6%.Huawei accounted for less than 1% of sales.”

Huawei hopes to become the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, but this will not be possible without a significant presence in the US market,an achievement that has not yet been realized.

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Smartphone OS Sales Share (%)
Germany / 3 m/e May 15 / 3 m/e May 16 / % pt. Change / USA / 3 m/e May 15 / 3 m/e May 16 / % pt. Change
Android / 74.7 / 77.7 / 3.0 / Android / 64.9 / 68.5 / 3.6
iOS / 15.9 / 15.2 / -0.7 / iOS / 30.9 / 29.3 / -1.6
Windows / 8.5 / 5.6 / -2.9 / Windows / 3.5 / 1.6 / -1.9
Other / 0.9 / 1.6 / 0.7 / Other / 0.7 / 0.6 / -0.1
GB / 3 m/e May 15 / 3 m/e May 16 / % pt. Change / China / 3 m/e May 15 / 3 m/e May 16 / % pt. Change
Android / 52.8 / 58.6 / 5.8 / Android / 76.9 / 79.3 / 2.4
iOS / 35.7 / 36.0 / 0.3 / iOS / 21.4 / 19.7 / -1.7
Windows / 10.5 / 5.1 / -5.4 / Windows / 1.0 / 0.6 / -0.4
Other / 1 / 0.4 / -0.6 / Other / 0.7 / 0.4 / -0.3
France / 3 m/e May 15 / 3 m/e May 16 / % pt. Change / Australia / 3 m/e May 15 / 3 m/e May 16 / % pt. Change
Android / 69.9 / 74.8 / 4.9 / Android / 56.2 / 64.4 / 8.2
iOS / 17.2 / 21 / 3.8 / iOS / 35.9 / 32.5 / -3.4
Windows / 11.1 / 4.1 / -7.0 / Windows / 6.3 / 2.6 / -3.7
Other / 1.8 / 0.1 / -1.7 / Other / 1.6 / 0.6 / -1.0
Italy / 3 m/e May 15 / 3 m/e May 16 / % pt. Change / Japan / 3 m/e May 15 / 3 m/e May 16 / % pt. Change
Android / 70.7 / 80.9 / 10.2 / Android / 52.6 / 58.8 / 6.2
iOS / 13.8 / 12.7 / -1.1 / iOS / 44.6 / 40.6 / -4.0
Windows / 13.9 / 6 / -7.9 / Windows / 0.1 / 0.1 / 0.0
Other / 1.6 / 0.4 / -1.2 / Other / 2.7 / 0.5 / -2.2
Spain / 3 m/e May 15 / 3 m/e May 16 / % pt. Change / EU5 / 3 m/e May 15 / 3 m/e May 16 / % pt. Change
Android / 89.9 / 92.8 / 2.9 / Android / 70.5 / 76.5 / 6.0
iOS / 7.5 / 6.9 / -0.6 / iOS / 18.8 / 18.3 / -0.5
Windows / 2.4 / 0.2 / -2.2 / Windows / 9.6 / 4.6 / -5.0
Other / 0.2 / 0.1 / -0.1 / Other / 1.1 / 0.6 / -0.5

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’ behavior.

Through continuous monitoring, advanced analytics, and tailored solutions, Kantar Worldpanel inspires successful decisions by brand owners, retailers, market analysts, and government organizations globally. With over 60 years’ experience, a team of 3,500, and services covering 60 countries directly or through partners, Kantar Worldpanel turns purchase behavior into competitive advantage in markets as diverse as FMCG, impulse products, fashion, baby, telecommunications and entertainment, among many others.

Kantar Worldpanel is part of the Kantar Group, one of the world’s largest insight, information, and consultancy networks. The Kantar Group is the data investment management division of WPP.

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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.

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