The latest smartphone OS data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech reveals that in the three months ending December 2017 iOS made an overall share gain of 0.7 percentage points to 24.8% across the big five European markets, despite market share falling by 2.4 percentage points in the UK. Strong results in Spain and Germany, where iOS is nearing a quarter of the market, were also replicated in Urban China, Japan and Australia thanks to the performance of Apple’s newest three handsets.
The flagship iPhone X made it into the top three best-selling devices in the month of December across Europe, Urban China, Japan, Australia and the United States. iOS loyalty reached a new high of 96% in the US, though its sales share fell 0.5 percentage points to 43.9% in the country.
Despite a strong performance by iOS across most markets, Android losses have to some extent been cushioned by the rapid fall of Windows, whose share now stands at under 1% in all markets except Italy.
Dominic Sunnebo, Global Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said is a statement, “The full results for the last quarter of the year show that Apple’s decision to release three new handsets over a staggered period, including the ultra high-end iPhone X, has been a sound one. With Apple’s existing release structure, expectations would always be that the flagship model would be the top selling device in key developed markets, but with the premium price of iPhone X, real life affordability has come into play. Given that in December iPhone X made it into the top three best-selling devices across all key regions, particularly in urban China where it was the top selling model, the pricing strategy seems to have been vindicated.”
In the USA, the handset market continues to be dominated by Samsung and Apple, who reached a combined share of 70.8% in the last three months of the year. However, Motorola and Google have managed to make some inroads, with share up 0.5 percentage points and 1.0 percentage points respectively to 5.6% and 2.8%. Huawei, which suffered a setback just before CES after a deal with a major carrier fell through, stayed flat holding just 0.4% of the USA market.
Source: Kantar Worldpanel ComTech
MacDailyNews Take: You know, because iPhone X is doomed. 😉
I think the following is important. I am probably the average all-Apple user. So, why haven’t I upgraded to the iPhone X? There have been reports of weakness in iPhone X sales and these reports have impacted Apple’s stock price. Let me share why I have not upgraded.
I have an iPhone 6 Plus, and it seems very slow to open apps and do many tasks. It’s not the battery, its just slow. I am probably the perfect candidate for an upgrade.
Last night, I went to Best Buy to look at iPhones. Couldn’t decide between the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 Plus. The iPhone X still doesn’t seem completely baked. among other things, people are reporting issues with Face ID, short battery life, and the phone is reportedly very fragile. I don’t want to spend $1,000 on a not-quite-fully-baked product. I keep up on Apple news, and on top of this is the news that the iPhone X will be dropped in the fall when the new phones come out. My wife, who is not technical, but is very practical, commented that they must know that something isn’t quite right with the device and they want to move on quickly to others. She may not be right, but I had the same subtle reaction to the news.
On the iPhone 8, from the front, iPhone 8 looks exactly like the iPhone 6 Plus I currently have. I know there are upgrades inside, including with the camera which is important to me, but I just couldn’t get past the fact that the form factor wasn’t really changed much. I couldn’t justify spending $800 on a phone that looks essentially the same.
Finally, I just decided live with my current slow iPhone 6 Plus and to wait until the new ones come out in September. I wonder how many other Apple devotees are making the same calculations.
I bought 2 on a buy one get one AT&T off for iPhone 8. Retiring so I’m losing my work iPhone6s and kid needed to upgrade from a (5s?)
I’m not looking at the form factor, from my perspective they all look the same, different screen size, etc, but the thinner / faster model was definitely attractive to me and I couldn’t beat the price;)
My wife and I also have an IPhone 6 Plus. Ours were the very first ones sold at our local Apple Store. We were not the first in line but we’re able to complete the transaction first once the computers came back online on the first day of sale.
My experience is different than yours. I do not consider the iPhone 6 Plus slow. My wife has the latest version of iOS in her phone and I’ve been proudly telling folks my iPhone runs IOS 9. (I WILL update to iOS 11.x now that Spectre and Meltdown are lurking). There isn’t that much difference in performance. Hers is only a little bit slower. I did not upgrade because of my perception of the buggyness of iOS 10 and 11. Besides iOS 9 does everything I need it to do.
Our plan is to replace the batteries in our iPhones this year. We intend to keep using the phones for a while Yes we expect the phones to “slow down” as iOS becomes more feature rich.
Despite everyone’s love for FaceID, we like the ability to use our fingerprints to unlock the phone and make purchases. Our perception is it takes a little more work to use FaceID than our fingerprints. Therefore we are hoping Apple keeps the same form factor around for a while longer. We don’t have high hopes just hope.
Regards!
“I don’t want to spend $1,000 on a not-quite-fully-baked product. I keep up on Apple news, and on top of this is the news that the iPhone X will be dropped in the fall when the new phones come out. My wife, who is not technical, but is very practical, commented that they must know that something isn’t quite right with the device”
I suggest you actually read the original source of the stories instead of rumours.
One analyst Ming suggested they are dropping the X but not because they are “not “fully baked” but because they will be having several new phones OF THE SAME TYPE AS THE X in different sizes . Also he suggests there will be new LCD phones using the tech in X (like Face I.D) in lower price ranges, that’s why they MIGHT not sell the 2017 X (at a lower price) when the new phones come out as they usually do with last year models. Why would they be trying to make multiple new X 2 models and put the X tech in the higher end LCD phones if the ‘tech isn’t quite right’?
It’s not the tech is bad, it’s that good that they are thinking of putting it in the LCD phones as well !
the reason they are not going all OLED is the cost and the fact that they can’t get enough screens.
what I’m saying is rumours too but more accurate to what the analyst was getting at than your reasoning.
above is reply to @eschatonhemera
Good summary. As an X owner I can attest to the fact that there is nothing wrong with it, it is the best smartphone available and best iPhone ever period. In 1-2 years the entire lineup will look like the X and feature the tech of the X.
The drop in IOS in the UK shows how the low British Pound from Brexit has forced people to cheap Android phones.