iOS, Android Continue to Dominate Smartphone Ecosystems: Kantar

Independent market analysis firm Kantar Worldpanel has published its latest monthly data for sales in several key smartphone markets around the world, including the US, China, and the EU5 – the top five European Union markets of Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

Smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows that iOS achieved continued growth across most regions tracked, except for Japan, Spain, and Urban China. Android also continued to post market share increases in all regions but the US, as no other ecosystem is challenging the two giants – iOS and Android.

“Gone are the days when a BlackBerry OS, Symbian, or Windows Mobile could make a significant impact,” reads Kantar’s report. “It is clear that there will only be two smartphone ecosystems moving forward – iOS and Android. To succeed, phone manufacturers will have to play by those rulebooks.”

In today’s findings, Kantar noted that as iOS and Android continue to battle it out in every market, “no other ecosystem is challenging the two giants.” Some re-emerging brands catalyzed nostalgic spending for consumers – including the Nokia 3310 and BlackBerry KEYone – but their reliance on Android’s OS instead of their own legacy OS has helped boost Android‘s market shares.

Kantar notes that Microsoft is rumoured to be developing a new class of mobile device with powerful hardware, and a multi-purpose user experience that will support desktop-class x86 applications when the handset is connected to a dock and external monitor. Some believe that the company will deliberately avoid describing the device as a “phone”, distancing itself from its smartphone struggles.

Kantar clearly believes that Microsoft is done in the smartphone market, and that Android and iOS are now the only viable platforms. It remains to be seen if the semantics of how Microsoft’s next-generation device is labelled will help it to prove the analysts wrong.

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