11 July 2011
PLEASURE AND PAIN: NEW DATA REVEALS THE MIXED FORTUNES IN THE SMARTPHONE MARKET
The latest market share figures for smartphone operating systems (OS), from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, show that in the latest 12 week ending sales to 12th June 2011 Android is now the top OS in six countries having edged past Symbian in Spain.
Despite talk of intense competition between the different smartphone platforms for customers, growth in Great Britain continues to be driven by consumers upgrading from non-smartphones rather than switching between OSs. 74.3% of Android’s new sales came from the non-smartphone market compared with only 1.4% of customers who previously owned an iPhone.
Global Consumer Insight Director, Dominic Sunnebo comments: “We are yet to see any real signs of consumers switching between Android and Apple. Our data shows that Apple and Android’s customers are intensely loyal when choosing their upgrade. One reason for this is the investment consumers make in their device through apps. In France for example, the average iPhone costs €215, and 17% of iPhone owners download more than 10 apps each month. This investment is then lost if they want to choose a different OS as the apps are non-transferable.”
As a result of growing competition, Apple lost market share in Great Britain this period; it now holds 18.3% in comparison with 30.6% for the same period last year. However, the iPhone 4 has been the top selling Smartphone for the last 12 months.
BlackBerry market share continued to grow in Great Britain – hitting 22.9% in the latest period. The strong appeal of the brand to the youth market shows no signs of abating, with 35.6% of customers aged 16-24. BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) use is key amongst this younger consumer, with 70% of BlackBerry owners, aged 16-24, using the BBM app in the latest four weeks.
Dominic adds: “With 63% of British consumers still owning a non-smartphone, future growth lays with upgrading customers. BlackBerry is currently attracting the most upgrading shoppers with 84.9% of its new customers previously owning a non-smartphone. Our data shows that most first-time smartphone owners look for lower prices. BlackBerry’s competitive pricing allows younger consumers to switch to a smartphone device at a price they can afford.
“However, a concern for brands targeting the lower end of the market is that once consumers have tried a smartphone they are prepared to spend more on their next device and could turn to other brands. With more and more consumers buying smartphones the future for middle-to-high-end smartphones is set to become ever more competitive.”
Although struggling in most countries, Symbian staged something of a comeback in France this period, losing only 3.9% of its share in the last 12 months, despite the French smartphone market growing by 75% year on year. As the second best selling smartphone in this market over the last 12 week period, the Nokia C7 has been instrumental in Nokia’s smartphone revival in France.
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 schedule of data release for 2011 is as follows:
08 August 2011
05 September 2011
03 October 2011
31 October 2011
28 November 2011
22 December 2011
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.
With over 40 years’ experience, a team of 3,000, and services covering more than 50 countries Kantar Worldpanel’s expertise of shopper and consumer behaviour has become the market currency for brand owners, retailers, market analysts and government organisations globally. To have one of our experts speak at your upcoming event get in touch.
Proud to be one of The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies To Work For in 2011 we deliver unique insights and commentary 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 and follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/ComTechglobal
About Kantar
Kantar is one of the world’s largest insight, information and consultancy networks. 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 26,500 employees work across 95 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
