Android Proving More Popular Than Apple’s iOS In OZ

Android smartphones are proving to be the most popular devices in Australia by a long way, despite Apple recently launching two new model iPhones.

Data captured by global research Company Kantra show that in Australia in August Android had 65.5% of the smartphone market Vs 33.5% for Apple’s iOS.

In the giant US market Samsung and Apple are now neck and neck in the US smartphone market however Android devices are still the most popular.

In Australia IDC will shortly release data that shows that Samsung has made a remarkable comeback with the Galaxy S8, S8+ and their new Galaxy Not 8 selling “extremely well”.

In the USA for three months ending in August Apple and Samsung were virtually tied at 35.2 percent and 35.0 percent respectively.

However, overall Android has a 63.2 percent share to iOS’s 35 percent.

iOS is up 3.7 percentage points year-over-year, while Samsung only grew 0.8 points, reaching a 35.2 percent share.

Apple was maintaining strong momentum in the US one month before the release of iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus as they discounted out their iPhone 7 to shift stock in the channel, Dominic Sunnebo, Global Business Unit Director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said.

Samsung boosted Android’s growth in Great Britain with the Galaxy S8 and J3 (2016) selling well, while Apple’s flagship models lost momentum in the period prior to the new iPhone announcement, offset slightly by strong sales of the iPhone SE.

‘Samsung took full advantage of the weeks just before the iPhone 8 and iPhone X were released in Great Britain, with significant promotional activity that helped drive its overall share to a three-year high of 38.4% for the three months ending August 2017,’ said Sunnebo.

‘More than one in four Galaxy S8 buyers cited a specific promotion as a key purchase influence.

In urban China, Huawei who will later this month release a competitor to the iPhone 8 and Samsung Galaxy 8 continued to lead the market, holding a 31.1% share in the three months ending in August – but its growth was muted with only a 1.5 percentage point gain year on year.

BBK Electronics, owner of the Oppo and Vivo brands, cemented its hold on the #2 spot in China with a combined 19.7% share, up 6.7% year on year.

Apple maintained its return to growth in the world’s largest smartphone market with its share moving up to 17.7% from 13.4% a year earlier.

The flagship iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were the two top-selling models in urban China during the period.

About Post Author

David Richards

David Richards has been writing about technology for more than 30 years. A former Fleet Street journalist, he wrote the Award Winning Series on the Federated Ships Painters + Dockers Union for the Bulletin that led to a Royal Commission. He is also a Logie Winner for Outstanding Contribution To TV Journalism with a story called The Werribee Affair. In 1997, he built the largest Australian technology media company and prior to that the third largest PR company that became the foundation company for Ogilvy PR. Today he writes about technology and the impact on both business and consumers.