Earlier today, market research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech published a new report concerning the market share gains and losses recorded by the world’s three major mobile OS developers in markets including China, the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan, over a three-month period ending February 2016. According to the new data, Apple has been losing market share in China, the U.S., and EU5, while the Android platform seems to enjoy growth in all parts of the world.
The data gathered by Kantar reflects the changes in market share for iOS, Android, and Windows OS over a period of three months ending February 2016. The data has been compared to the market share held by the three platforms in the same three-month period ending February 2015, showing that Apple has been losing influence year-on-year in China, the US, as well as EU5 (Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain). According to Kantar, this is the first time since August 2014 when Apple’s share in China didn’t grow over the aforementioned three-month period. On the contrary, Kantar reports that Apple’s share declined 3.2% to 22.2%, down from 25.4% market share recorded at the end of February 2015. In contrast, the market share for Android in China increased by 3.4% over the same period of time, whereas the Windows platform maintains its 0.9% share. In the U.S., Apple lost 0.5% market share, while the Android platform grew by 3.3% to a total market share of 58.9% at the end of February 2016. Apple seems to have lost some influence in EU5 too, where iOS is down 1.8%. Windows also lost 4.2% market share in the same region, whereas Android OS enjoys an increase of 6.7%, up to a total of 74.3% market share.
Kantar Worldpanel reports that, in China, Android’s ascension can be attributed to local brands such as Oppo and Meizu. In the U.S., the average price spent by smartphone buyers in the three-month period ending February 2016 was $352. 69% of Android buyers have spent under $350 for a new device while only 39% of Apple enthusiasts have purchased iOS devices for under $350. Kantar adds that in light of these figures, Apple might regain some of its lost market share with the release of the iPhone SE, which should attract price-conscious smartphone buyers. In any case, although Android is apparently winning ground, Apple was still able to recordmassive profits in 2015 compared to Samsung and its other rivals.
