APPLE BITES BACK
Apple increases its share as iPhone 4S dominates sales
The latest data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows that in the latest 12 weeks of sales* Apple has increased its share of the GB smartphone market to 27.8%.
Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director comments: “The October launch of the hugely anticipated iPhone 4S has catapulted Apple into second place among operating systems based on the last 12 weeks of sales. However, if you just look at the month of October, Apple took a whopping 42.8% share of all smartphone sales, giving it a significant lead over Android (which accounted for 35%) – a feat many thought was impossible.
“With nearly a year and a half between iPhone launches there has been huge pent up demand for a new Apple device. We have previously seen that Apple customers tend to be very loyal to the brand. However, it is still astonishing that 75% of new iPhone 4S owners previously owned an iPhone.
“Most of these loyalists tended to own previous generation devices such as the 3G or 3GS models. However, 14% previously owned an iPhone 4, demonstrating that quite a few people bought themselves out of their contracts to get hold of the 4S. Clearly the upgraded processor, camera and unveiling of SIRI assistant was enough to generate excitement among the Apple community.”
Smartphones made up 69.8% of sales over the 12 weeks, meaning that 44.8% of the British population now owns a smartphone.
Sunnebo continues: “While unwavering loyalty is clearly great news for Apple, it is likely to be a relief for other smartphone operators. With Apple predominantly driving sales from within its existing customer base, it leaves the field wide open for the likes of Nokia, BlackBerry, Samsung and HTC to focus on converting the remaining 29 million adults who don’t yet have a smartphone to their brand.”
* 30 October 2011
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 market share figures for the major smartphone OS.
This information is based on the research extracted from the Kantar Worldpanel ComTech global consumer panel. ComTech is the largest continuous research consumer mobile phone tracking panel of its kind in the world, conducting over 1 million interviews per year in Europe alone. ComTech tracks mobile phone behaviour, including purchasing of phones, mobile phone bills/airtime, source of purchase and phone usage and delivers beyond market share tracking to understand drivers of share changes, market dynamics through consumer insight – the data included in this release is excluding enterprise sales
The latest 12 week ending smartphone OS market share data is released every four weeks.
The final data release in 2011 will be on 22 December.
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 to deliver both the big picture and the fine detail that inspire successful actions by its clients. Kantar Worldpanel’s expertise about what people buy or use – and why – has become the market currency for brand owners, retailers, market analysts and government organisations globally.
With over 60 years’ experience, a team of 3,000, and services covering more than 50 countries directly or through partners, Kantar Worldpanel delivers High Definition Inspiration™ in fields as diverse as FMCG, impulse products, fashion, baby, telecommunications and entertainment, among many others.
For further information, please visit us at www.kantarworldpanel.com.
About Kantar
Kantar is one of the world’s largest insight, information and consultancy groups. By uniting the diverse talents of its 13 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Its 28,500 employees work across 100 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies.
For further information, please visit us at www.kantar.com
