In the three months ending May 2017, iOS performance proved strong in the US, Australia, and Japan, with Android making strong gains in the UK, Germany, and France, with little year-on-year movement in China.
The latest smartphone OS data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech has arrived, with the Chinese numbers showing Android capturing 80.5% of smartphone sales, a mere one percentage point up from a year earlier, but with little upside for Google seeing as its services are effectively banned in the Middle Kingdom.
Australia
More detail on the world below, but first, the latest in Australian data, courtesy of Tamsin Timpson, Strategic Insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia.
It showed iOS performance proved strong in Australia, capturing 38.1% of smartphone sales, up 5.6% from a year ago, while Android share is down almost 3.0% to 61.5%. The Samsung share of all smartphones sold makes up 34.1%, down 5.2% compared to a year ago.
{loadposition alex08}Continuing with Australian data, Timpson notes Apple devices taking “three of the top five handsets sold in the three months to May 2017, with the iPhone 7 and 7 plus sitting in 1st and 2nd place and collectively accounting for almost 20% of sales. Early sales of the Galaxy S8 put this model in the number 5 spot".
We’re also told that “the ‘one-off payment or outright payment’ market has become an increasingly popular method to acquire a smartphone, with an increase of 6.7% being noticed within this payment method" compared to a year ago.
Given the boom in mid-range Androids, it is no surprise to see Kantar stating, “this trend is driven by handsets priced under US$450, with sales share of this bracket increasing from 64% to almost 72% in the latest quarter. Non-Samsung Android brands such as Huawei, Oppo, ZTE, and Alcatel are the main drivers of this, giving consumers the option of good quality handsets without the huge price tags".
Going into June, Timpson states, “Samsung share returns to growth as sales of its new flagship models continue to grow. More detail to be reported on this in due course".
US
Now, onto the rest of the world, but starting with the US first, we turn to Dominic Sunnebo, Global Business Unit director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, who states: “Samsung regained the top sales spot in the US in the three-month period ending in May 2017, with its market share rising from 32.9% the previous period to 36.2%.
“However, this represents a fall of 1.1% over the past year, with Apple holding a 34.0% share, up 4.7% from a year earlier. The Galaxy S8 launch helped Samsung regain the top position in the US, but the bounce from the flagship launch was less than would be expected from a full product redesign.”
In the US, “Apple and Samsung continue to dominate smartphone sales, each with five models on the top 10 best-selling list. The Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus occupy the top two spots, with the Samsung Galaxy S7 in third place, just ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S8 in the number four spot".
Sadly, it is the sound of tiny violins playing when it comes to launch of the LG G6, with Sunnebo reporting it “had a minimal impact, with the G6 now in 13th position with a 1.3% share in the US".
China
As for the Middle Kingdom — urban China — we’re told that “iOS share remained almost flat at 19.2%, down 0.4% year-over-year, though an improvement from 16.2% in the three months to April 2017".
“Huawei remained the market leader as its share grew 2.9% to 28.3%. Xiaomi performance edged up after a challenging few months, with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X coming in as the fourth-best-selling device in the three months ending May 2017.”
Timpson said: “Xiaomi managed to regain some momentum with the Note 4X launch, but the brand is making slow progress with its higher-tier devices. Xiaomi’s average selling price in the three months ending in May was 41% below the market ASP at ¥1523, and 33% below the Huawei/Honor Brand.”
Europe
In the EU5, Europe’s big five markets of the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, Android accounted for 79.5% of smartphone sales in the three months ending May 2017, increasing 2.8% from a year earlier, driven by strong performance in the UK, Germany, and France.
“iOS share edged up across Germany, France and Spain, though falls in the UK and Italy meant overall iOS EU5 share remained steady, up 0.2% year-on-year to 18.4%,” Sunnebo said.
“Samsung performed well in France in the three months ending in May 2017.
“The low- and mid-tier Galaxy J series and A series models enabled Samsung to compete more effectively with home-grown upstart Wiko and global challenger Huawei. However, the largest contributor to Android’s EU5 growth came from Huawei, which posted strong sales in all EU5 markets, except Spain.
“Huawei continued to produce good sales volumes, but its flagship P10 struggled to make an impact in sales rankings, with share gains attributed to the older, more value-oriented P8 and P9 Lite models.”
Windows Mobile
Kantar’s chart showing the OS breakdown is below. Windows hangs on by fingernail cuttings, not even actual fingernails anymore, and in Japan, the "other" category even outdoes Windows, but everywhere else, "other" is even more grim than Microsoft, so at least that’s the smallest of positives for Windows.
Even so, Windows fans will probably see the fact that Windows Mobile still isn’t completely dead as a good sign.
Presumably only a Surface Phone launch on an x86 platform that can run full Windows x86 apps, or a Qualcomm ARM-powered Surface Phone that promises to do the same, is the only hope for Windows Mobile, because certainly turning to Obi Wan Kenobi is no longer an option.
