Apple Ended 2015 as Leading Smartphone Brand in the U.S. and China [Chart]

Apple ended last year as the leading smartphone brand in the United States and China, according to data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

“Now more than ever it is interesting to highlight the difference in performance of iOS versus Apple. As a vendor, Apple was able to return to the top of the leader boards in the U.S. and China, while iOS has struggled to return to the market share it saw in 2014 across a number of markets, especially in the U.S.,” reported Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. “Apple loyalty in the U.S. is at its highest since 2012, reinforcing the fact that customer retention is not an issue. However, customer acquisition from Android has gone from 13% in 4Q14 to 11% in 4Q15, and the contribution that first-time smartphone buyers make to Apple overall sales numbers went from 20% to 11% over that same period.”

“In urban China, Apple regained its title of most-sold smartphone brand with a share of 27% and had the top three models in that market,” commented Tamsin Timpson, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia. “Huawei remained the top seller within the Android ecosystem as it captured 34% of sales. Xiaomi is now a distant second in the ranking at 10 percentage points below Huawei.”

Smartphone penetration is estimated to have reached 65% among mobile phone users and 84% of overall mobile phone sales. With the pool of potential new buyers shrinking, Android is having an easier time grabbing late adopters due its wider price range.

“In Europe’s big five markets, iOS share grew considerably quarter-over-quarter, but sales were not enough to show year-over-year growth,” said Dominic Sunnebo, business unit director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Europe. “Once again, Android share was boosted by a strong performance in the more price-conscious markets of Spain and Italy. Android also recorded year-over-year growth in Great Britain for the first time in the course of 2015 as Samsung, LG and Huawei all grew share.”

Check out the chart below for more details...


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