iPhone 7 sales push iOS US share growth to record two-year high, Android predictably declines

Posted on by Adrian Diaconescu

It’s all about hot new high-end models for American smartphone buyers, which reportedly found the iPhone 7’s lack of a headphone jack a “non-issue” in the August – October 2016 timeframe.

Of course, the impressive local iOS rise must have been due in part to the double Galaxy Note 7 recall and ultimate discontinuation as well, even if Kantar completely disregards the highly publicized debacle in its latest Worldpanel ComTech sales data.

It can’t be a coincidence Android lost a whopping 5.6 percent on US shores year-on-year, while iOS gained a full 7 percentage points, especially with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus only available for around two of the 12 weeks tracked by the research firm, and limited quantities a problem even then.

That didn’t stop the smaller of the new iOS handhelds from dominating the US sales ranks for the entire three-month period, with the Plus variant in fourth place, narrowly behind the iPhone 6s and Samsung Galaxy S7.

Believe it or not, Apple had the number one, two and three devices in Great Britain (iPhone 7, SE and 6s), and the iPhone 7 placed second in Urban China, behind OPPO’s R9. As such, iOS registered year-over-year share gains across key markets like Japan, Australia, France, Italy and Spain in addition to the US and UK, only losing a bit of overall Chinese and German steam.

Stateside, the number two mobile platform amazingly recorded its strongest growth rate in over two years, as well as the highest share since January 2015. But Android’s global scores weren’t that bad either, with decent progress actually reported from China to Australia and EU5 territories.

The post iPhone 7 sales push iOS US share growth to record two-year high, Android predictably declines appeared first on Pocketnow.

IDC’s overall 2016 smartphone market guesstimate has Android at 85 percent share

Posted on by Adrian Diaconescu

It’s not even December yet, but the first estimated full-year smartphone market report is already out, previewing an overall global growth of 0.6 percent in shipment numbers compared to the whole of 2015.

That’s worryingly down from last year’s 10.4 percent surge, but at least sales aren’t on a decline… yet. The International Data Corporation (IDC) doesn’t break down the projected 1.45 billion units tally for 2016 into manufacturer share, focusing once again on Android’s increasing domination of the mobile operating system landscape.

No less than 1.22 billion of all smartphones sold worldwide this year are expected to run some form of Google’s open-source platform, equating to a colossal 85 percent slice of the 4G-first pie. Yes, LTE-enabled device adoption is also on the rise, from 61 to 77 percent in so-called emerging markets, and from 85 to 94 (!!!) percent as far as “mature” countries are concerned, including USA, Canada, Japan, and Western Europe territories.

Meanwhile, “all signs point to 2016 being the first full year of declining shipments for Apple’s iPhone”, though IDC is quick to underline this by no means foretells doomsday for iOS, which retains a solid 14.3 percent market share, tipped to remain largely unchanged through 2020.

By then, Windows Phone and “other” platforms are forecasted to effectively fade away, plummeting from 6.1 and 4.5 million units respectively shipped in total this year to no more than a mil each.

The post IDC’s overall 2016 smartphone market guesstimate has Android at 85 percent share appeared first on Pocketnow.

Huawei, Vivo and OPPO share modest Q3 domination of Android smartphone profits

Posted on by Adrian Diaconescu

The Android smartphone market needs another hero after Samsung’s abrupt fall from grace this past quarter, with three Chinese OEMs actually rising to the challenge and splitting Apple’s scraps, according to fresh Strategy Analytics research.

This particular consulting firm estimates iPhones captured a record 91 percent share of $9.4 billion total worldwide industry profits, which makes a little more sense than mind-boggling numbers previously thrown around by BMO Capital Markets analysts.

Either way, Cupertino still has no rival to first place in global profitability ranks, especially now that Huawei, Vivo and OPPO are essentially tied in second, third and fourth positions, with Samsung falling to the “Others” category.

And sure, a 2.4 percent slice of the operating profit pie, equating to roughly $200 million, doesn’t sound impressive for the world’s third largest smartphone vendor when Apple scored mobile gains of $8.5 billion between July and September 2016.

Then again, Huawei’s $200 million quarterly surplus is practically a match for the combined tally of all the “other” OEMs, including Samsung. Vivo and OPPO continue to make waves with “disciplined pricing and soaring shipments across Asia”, themselves breaking away from the losing pack, at $200M profits each.

The post Huawei, Vivo and OPPO share modest Q3 domination of Android smartphone profits appeared first on Pocketnow.

The iPhone 7 was September’s best-selling US handheld, while Huawei gained European ground

Posted on by Adrian Diaconescu

What could the latest smartphone OS sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech possibly reveal about the industry’s Q3 state, changes and trends after pretty comprehensive Gfk, IDC and Strategy Analytics reports covering the same timeframe from slightly different perspectives, plus a math and logic-defying update on global profit share?

Well, for one thing, Apple should rejoice upon receiving further confirmation of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus “immediate impact” in September, particularly stateside, where the two quickly became the best-selling models at 17.1 percent.

The iPhone 6s followed in second place for the first month of autumn, thanks mainly to discounts and base storage upgrades, which obviously propelled iOS to a decent chunk of 90-day regional sales. Namely, 34.2 percent of the US pie, up 5.2 impressive points from the three months ending in September 2015.

Apple’s platform gains came chiefly at the expense of arch-rival Android, as Windows slips closer and closer towards total oblivion. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 woes contributed to a 3.3 percent annual dip to a still commanding 63.4 score on American shores, though literally everywhere else, the world-leading mobile OS somehow managed to boost its Q3 2015 numbers.

More than 85 percent (!!!) of smartphones sold in China between July and September 2016 were Google-powered, as well as 76.9 percent in EU5 markets, 61.7 in Japan, and 58.2 in Australia.

As far as vendors go, it’s worth pointing out global bronze medalist Huawei replaced Samsung as the reigning leader in Italy, also falling just short of another surprise win against the troubled Note 7 manufacturer in Spain.

The post The iPhone 7 was September’s best-selling US handheld, while Huawei gained European ground appeared first on Pocketnow.

Android rises to record 88 percent Q3 smartphone sales share, as Windows ‘all but disappears’

Posted on by Adrian Diaconescu

It’s funny how three separate market research firms have released different global Q3 smartphone shipment estimates in the past week or so, also choosing to focus their analysis on distinct aspects of the current and future state of the mobile ecosystem.

While GfK believes industry demand totaled 353 million units between July and September, anticipating a prospective historic decline next year, and IDC counted nearly 363 mil smartphones shipped worldwide, of which Samsung retained the lion’s share, Strategy Analytics now tops both approximations, going all the way up to 375M.

That would mark a cool 6 percent annual growth, the fastest such rate in 12 months, and it’s mostly thanks to strong performances from Android device vendors across Asia and Africa Middle East, “particularly India and South Africa.”

But you have to figure the world-leading mobile OS did adequate business, at the very least, elsewhere too, since it commanded a record-high 88 percent of the grand smartphone sales total around the globe. That’s more than 3 percentage points up from Q3 2015, while iOS lost a point and a half and 3.5 millions of units, with BlackBerry and Windows Phone all but dead “due to strategic shifts”, and Tizen and “other emerging platforms softened as a result of limited product portfolios and modest developer support.”

Combined, every other platform besides Android and iOS barely added up to 1.3 million unit sales and 0.3 percent share during Q3 2016, which is officially too insignificant to be taken seriously.

The post Android rises to record 88 percent Q3 smartphone sales share, as Windows ‘all but disappears’ appeared first on Pocketnow.

Samsung’s smartphone vendor dominance unchallenged in Q3, OPPO closed the gap to Huawei

Posted on by Adrian Diaconescu

Long-term, schmong-term. Despite the huge Galaxy Note 7 scandals and controversies, Samsung still managed to earn a good bit of money between July and September both overall and strictly from a mobile business standpoint, also totally dominating the global smartphone vendor ranks once again.Unless you own a pretty reliable crystal ball, ...

Continue reading »

The post Samsung’s smartphone vendor dominance unchallenged in Q3, OPPO closed the gap to Huawei appeared first on Pocketnow.

Kantar sees iOS on the decline in China, Android stateside, Windows everywhere

Posted on by Adrian Diaconescu

Apple never performs too well during the summer in the always competitive smartphone landscape, and with the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus so quickly out of steam, you may have expected to hear of a massive worldwide decline in iOS device popularity between June and August 2016.But the iPhone SE probably surpassed analyst forecasts, especially in markets like the UK, where it was actually the number one sold handheld overall in the aforementioned period, ...

Continue reading »

The post Kantar sees iOS on the decline in China, Android stateside, Windows everywhere appeared first on Pocketnow.

Kantar: iOS shows growth in ‘most regions’ ahead of iPhone 7 launch, Android loses a little US ground

Posted on by Adrian Diaconescu

The worldwide smartphone OS sales numbers for the three-month period ending July 2016 are in, and as always, Android comfortably dominates every single important market, with iOS a distant second across the board, and Windows Phone (or Mobile) plunging further down towards obsolescence.But interestingly enough, Kantar Worldpanel ComTech claims, Apple managed to achieve year-on-year growth in most regions, including the US, EU5, and Australia, despite

Continue reading »

The post Kantar: iOS shows growth in ‘most regions’ ahead of iPhone 7 launch, Android loses a little US ground appeared first on Pocketnow.

IDC: Chinese smartphone vendors are rapidly taking over the key Indian market

Posted on by Adrian Diaconescu

We’ve said it a number of times in the recent and not-so-recent past, and we’ll say it again as often as we get the chance. While the US remains an important market for any smartphone manufacturer, be it veteran or rookie, seeking global relevance, China and especially India can even more easily make or break an OEM’s ambitions.That’s because there’s still room for growth in the country so adamantly ...

Continue reading »

The post IDC: Chinese smartphone vendors are rapidly taking over the key Indian market appeared first on Pocketnow.

Kantar: iPhones return to growth in key markets during Q2, LG thrives stateside

Posted on by Adrian Diaconescu

Despite the generally bleak picture painted by most market research companies and industry analysts when it comes to recent iPhone box-office numbers and Apple’s realistic expectations going forward, it’s not all doom and gloom for the world’s enduring top mobile OEM in terms of actual financial gains.Not only does Cupertino ...

Continue reading »

The post Kantar: iPhones return to growth in key markets during Q2, LG thrives stateside appeared first on Pocketnow.

Apple only sold 800K iPhones in India during Q2, while Android had 97 percent share

Posted on by Adrian Diaconescu

The global smartphone industry might still be under an OS duopoly, as Android keeps widening the gap to iOS without entirely being able to shake off Apple’s mobile platform, but at least one key market sees its strict monopoly situation getting tighter and tighter.It’s not just Windows Phone,

Continue reading »

The post Apple only sold 800K iPhones in India during Q2, while Android had 97 percent share appeared first on Pocketnow.