Apple has ceded the lead as the top selling smartphone platform in the US to Android in early 2013, the most recent Kantar Worldpanel ComTech report says.
Although the iPhone was the best selling smartphone during the holiday quarter, its popularity among buyers seems to pale as Android had a great start this year: It regained the top spot in the three months ending January 2013, according to Kantar’s data, retaining 49.4% of smartphone sales back then.
The most recent study has found, however, that iOS dropped roughly 10% during the three month period ending February 2013 compared to the December quarter, as it retains a strong second place with 43.5% of smartphone sales, down 3.5% compared to a year prior.
Android, on the other hand, has grown nearly 5% compared to the same period last year, retaining more than half – 51.2% – of the total US smartphone sales. As Kantar Worldpanel ComTech analyst Mary-Ann Parlato points out, the increase was likely driven by Sprint’s high Samsung smartphone sales, thanks to Samsung’s price drop at the back end of 2012.
“Of those who changed their phone over the last year to a Samsung smartphone, 19% had previously owned a Samsung featurephone, 15% owned a HTC smartphone, 14% owned an LG featurephone, 10% owned a Samsung smartphone and 9% owned a BlackBerry,” Parlato added.
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Remember that there is only one iPhone and tons of other companies making Android phones.
Unless you start comparing iPhone running the latest iOS version to an Android device that’s comparable to iPhone specs running the latest software version, then I will call it a real Apple-to-Apple comparison. Anything else, it’s just media noise.
Bring on the iPhone 5S I say
Unless it’s a big improvement, specifically on the iOS side of things, I’d expect this trend to continue. Of note, I’m about to go and get my iPhone 5 replaced on warranty due to connectivity issues. Besides the first gen, I’ve had every other model I’ve owned replaced once. I don’t necessarily mind because I get a new phone out of the ordeal, but might this be a reflection on Apple’s supposed superior build quality?
If there aren’t major enhancements soon, I’ll probably jump ship. I don’t really like Android (tried the Galaxy SII for half a year), but the HTC One and the Sense UI overlay seems kind of enticing at the moment.
Why not compare it to ALL devices running IOS, if you going to do it to all devices running Android.
No surprise here. Apple needs to get innovative again! The iOS software is so outdated and has changed very little since 2007. Time for change or the competition will eat away more of Apple’s share of the smartphone market.
Without JOBS, theres no apple…its the plain old truth.
I’m looking at this in a different perspective. It’s not really a fair comparison as there are more types and brands of devices running Android than there are running iOS. On the contrary, iOS has only dropped 3.5% from last year. Even in the end of the article, it says that the increase in Android sales was likely due to the price drop of Samsung phones. The last time Apple had a price drop was, well, never. This article should read “Despite a minor drop in sales, people still love their iOS devices.”
Galaxy fans will now celebrate saying that S3 dethroned iPhone LOL. Iphone vs the world!