Apple’s iOS poised to overtake Android in the U.S. smartphone market

“comScore has recently updated their MobiLens and Mobile Metrix, data for US smartphone subscribers in August 2013. Many in the media picked up the point that iOS gained on Android during the month. While this is true, it has actually been going on for almost a year now,” Ben Bajarin writes for Tech.pinions. “In November, 2012, Android peaked in the US at just over 53% share. Since then it has slowly declined. During that same time iOS has been slowly growing.”

“The iPhone does not compete with the low-end, extremely low-cost, Android devices offered free by carriers or on pre-pay plans from retailers, which is why comparing the iPhone to the entirety of Android is a mistake. Rather, to get a holistic picture of what is happening, we must compare the iPhone to similarly priced products. More specifically we must compare the iPhone’s market share to that of other vendors’ products at the same price points. When we do that, we get a clearer picture,” Bajarin writes. “Below is the iPhone’s share against other devices costing greater than $400 wholesale (or offered at $99-$199 subsidized). This chart is based on sell through estimates [about which] I am extremely confident.”

Premium U.S. smartphone share by vendor, devices over $400 - TechPinions

“As you can see, the iPhone dominates the premium segment of the market. These estimates are prior to the launch of the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s,” Bajarin writes. “Based on all the data I am seeing from demand and sales trends, it is hard not to conclude that iOS will overtake Android in the US in the near future – possibly as soon as the end of the calendar year. But perhaps the most important thing about the iPhone’s share in the premium devices sector is that other competitors have only been able to made weak inroads against it. Samsung, for example, has been spending hundreds of millions of dollars in US-based marketing, yet their share of the premium market has peaked and been trending downward on weaker-than-expected sales in 2013.”

More info in the full article – highly recommendedhere.

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11 Comments

  1. But of course, now the the story will be how android leads in world wide share! Meanwhile they try to bury their old stories of the android lead like an old cat turd in the sandbox…

  2. Not sure if this a good story or not.. On one hand yay, iOS is doing well in the premium sector. On the other hand, iOS reporting has come to the point where they have to spin a story by narrowing the field to where the numbers look good.. 🙁

    1. Xennex, you just a Troll or an astroturfer? (difference is if you actually get paid for trolling apple news sites.)

      Apple makes premium products and have never competed (nor have they wanted to) in the commodity (low price) markets with any product at any time (PJR).

      1. Hate to break the news to you but the $400 limit eliminates Nexus.
        With the Nexus 5 specs being widely reported are you really sure that it’s not an iPhone competitor?
        No, I’m not a troll – and everything gadget I own is Apple – but selecting parameters to prove you are the mkt leader seems very, very contrived.

        1. First off why can’t you just be truthful?
          “Hate to break the news to you but the $400 limit eliminates Nexus.
          With the Nexus 5 specs being widely reported”

          You aren’t and apple hating ‘rood fan? Puh-lease,
          Ooooo… you just wait for the next nexis you…. you, apple fanboi

          Now on the the nexus… The Nexus IS subsidized (just like network television is) and people are slowly becoming just how nefarious and creepy google is (and what they will extract from people in return for that couple hundred dollars off.)

          Second (and relating to #1) the nexus4 just isn’t going to be the blockbuster that you ‘roid faithful are praying it will be. It’s doubtful that it is going to sell even as well as the samsung’s (which currently aren’t doing that well against the iphones either) As a matter of fact what marketshare it does manage to carve will come (90% or better) out of samsung’s hide not the iPhone’s.
          So yes you are (very obviously) an apple hater, and no the new nexus is not likely to have much (or any) more impact than it’s predecessors did.

  3. I hope Eric Schmidt is asked about declining U.S. Android smartphone market share. I know he’ll give his stock reply proudly saying how Google is activating about 10 million Android devices daily on a global scale. I swear it would practically be the death of Android if Samsung replaced Android OS with Tizen OS on its future devices although I’ve heard it’s been indefinitely postponed. It was good to hear that Windows Phone was putting the squeeze on Android smartphones in Europe thanks to Nokia.

    1. I’m rooting for Tizen and Windows. Anything but the obnoxious Android colony of infected zombies. I don’t even care if IOS declines, as long as the mouths of the deranged are sewn shut. Life is short enough as it is.

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