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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 firsttime 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
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
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
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
GB
Italy
USA
2
3 m/e Jul 14
3 m/e Jul 15
% pt.
Change
Android
88.6
89.4
0.8
iOS
6.2
6.6
Windows
4.6
Other
0.6
Spain
3 m/e Jul
14
3 m/e Jul
15
% pt.
Change
Android
75.1
71.0
-4.1
0.4
iOS
14.5
17.0
2.5
4.0
-0.6
Windows
8.7
11.1
2.4
0.0
-0.6
Other
1.7
0.9
-0.8
EU5
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.
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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
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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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