iPhone 7 Continues To Dominate Most Markets: Kantar Data

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Apple’s flagship iPhone 7 continues to gain market share in most major countries. Latest data from Kantar Worldpanel shows that we are heading towards a two-OS world dominated by iOS and Android. All other operating systems such as Windows Mobile and BlackBerry OS have become irrelevant. The only markets where iOS witnessed a decline were Japan, China, and Spain.

Image Source: iphonedigital/flickr.com

iPhone 7 drives iOS share to 42% in the US

Between November 2016 and January 2017, the iOS gained 2.9 percentage points to hit 42% market share in the United States. It was helped by the record sales of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus during the holiday period. Android’s share in the US fell to 56.4% at the end of the quarter ending January 2017 compared to 58.2% in the same period a year ago.

Kantar said it was difficult to gauge the impact of all the devices launched at MWC from the perspective of US consumers because most of these devices won’t initially go for sale in the US. Almost 70% of the US smartphone market is dominated by Apple and Samsung. LG Electronics accounted for another 11.1% of sales during the January quarter.

Apple losing market share in China, Spain

In the five largest markets of Europe, Android increased its share from 72.9% in January 2016 quarter to 74.3% in the latest period. The iOS retained its 22.7% market share, largely because the iPhone 7 was the top-selling smartphone in the UK, France and Germany. The big five European markets include the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Among them, Spain was the only country where the iOS saw its market share decline.

iPhone 7 iOS Market Share
Image Source: Kantar Worldpanel (screenshot)

The Cupertino company continues to struggle in China. In the world’s most populous country, the iOS market share tumbled from 25% to 16.6%. In contrast, Android’s share skyrocketed from 73.9% to 83.2%. Huawei was the largest smartphone vendor in China in January 2017 quarter with 26.6% market share. The China figures include devices sold in tier 2 and tier 3 cities and rural parts of the country.

iPhone 8 could further boost iOS market share

In “Urban China,” Apple’s iPhone 7 remains the best-selling smartphone, said Kantar. Apple’s share in the country continues to decline as it faces stiff competition from Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo. In Australia, Apple’s share increased marginally from 41.2% to 42.4%. Besides Spain and China, Japan was the only country where iPhone sales declined during the November-January quarter.

Apple is gearing up to launch an innovative iPhone 8 alongside the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus this September. While the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus would be iterative upgrades over the current models, the flagship iPhone 8 will have a new design and exciting new features such as an OLED display, wireless charging, a glass-sandwich design, augmented reality, facial recognition, and no home button. The revolutionary new device could further boost the iOS market share next year.

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