Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, LLC today released analysis of the results of its research on mobile phone manufacturers for the calendar quarter that ended December 31, 2014.
This analysis features findings about consumer trends in mobile phones in the US from October- December 2014. CIRP finds that among the major phone brands, Apple had the largest share of the US market, with half of all phone sales.
“The strength of the September 2014 launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus fueled Apple’s dominance in US mobile phone sales this quarter,” said Josh Lowitz, Partner and Co- Founder of CIRP, in a statement. “Apple had virtually double the sales of Samsung, and five times that of LG. No other brand accounted for as much as 5% of US sales. The Amazon Fire and Blackberry smartphones registered slight share, which we attribute to random sample fluctuation as much as actual sales.”
Phone Brand Share of Activations Q4-2014
“Because of the iPhone launch, Apple increased its share considerably over the 28% in the July-September quarter,” said Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP, in a statement. “For most of the earlier quarter, buyers held off buying Apple phones in anticipation of the launch. Apple also increased its share slightly from the October-December 2013 quarter, when it had 48% of sales. More telling, Samsung saw its share fall from 31% in the October-December 2013 quarter, evidently giving up sales to LG, whose share increased from 8% in the October-December 2013 quarter.”
“By every measure, Apple’s 2014 phone launch was a success,” continued Lowitz. “iPhones drew from loyal Apple customers, with 86% of buyers upgrading from an older iPhone. Samsung and LG saw far lower loyalty rates, with 25% of Samsung owners and 18% of LG owners who activated a phone in the quarter switching to an iPhone.”
CIRP bases its findings on a survey of 500 US subjects, from December 27, 2014- January 5, 2015 that activated a new or used phone in the October-December 2014 period.
Source: Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, LLC
MacDailyNews Take: Boom!
Thermonuclear.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Brawndo Drinker” and “Bill” for the heads up.]
I assume these numbers are for SMARTphones and not “mobile phones.” And as usual, showing percentage of unit sales. Imagine this chart showing PROFIT share.
BlackBerry “0%” – A true “rounding error.” Time to add it into the “Other” category.
Microsoft is listed as “Nokia,” since this is a list of smartphone makers, not smartphone platforms. At least “CIRP” got that right, and did NOT use the usual mostly meaningless iPhone versus the Android collective chart.
No, these numbers are for phones of all types, not just smartphones. That makes Apple’s success even more impressive.
I agree that if you were to produce a chart of profit share it would be even more impressive, but Apple selling 50% of all phones is one hell of an achievement.
Exactly. Many here seemed not to understand that I was calling for an iPhone 6 two years ago. Samsung wouldn’t have even gotten as many sales as they did if Apple had been more prompt about delivering a family of phones with different screen sizes & more memory.
Next up: more battery life and a better/more legible/less flat/user font selectable GUI please.
“We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone,” he said. “PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.”
He was right. Apple didn’t just walk in. They were driving a steamroller.
A Forbes FUD article from 2012. I especially like the Android- SamShit- WindBlows take… JUNK!
You can understand Apple’s conundrum. In 2012, the iPhones’s gross profit margins were close to 55%. That is truly wonderful, but it is also unsustainably high now that Android-Samsung and Windows 8 are getting their acts together. The iPhone profit train now accounts for 65% of Apple’s overall profits.
It’s not about GREED, it is about improving quality innovative products.
I assume these numbers are for SMARTphones and not “mobile phones.” And as usual, showing percentage of unit sales. Imagine this chart showing PROFIT share.
BlackBerry “0%” – A true “rounding error.” Time to add it into the “Other” category.
“BlackBerry “0%” – A true “rounding error.” Time to add it into the “Other” category.”
Keep in mind it was just a survey of 500 phone buyers. No doubt iPhone sales were stellar though.
So, your saying BlackBerry’s share is significantly less than the “margin of error.” I like that even better than “rounding error.” 🙂
M$ isn’t even listed; holy Ballmer!
Microsoft is listed as “Nokia,” since this is a list of smartphone makers, not smartphone platforms. At least “CIRP” got that right, and did NOT use the usual mostly meaningless iPhone versus the Android collective chart.
No, these numbers are for phones of all types, not just smartphones. That makes Apple’s success even more impressive.
I agree that if you were to produce a chart of profit share it would be even more impressive, but Apple selling 50% of all phones is one hell of an achievement.
I must be missunderstanding something or missing something?!
Apple only increased its sales/ activations by 2% yoy in q4 ( fiscal q1) in usa?
48% q4 2013 to 50% q4 2014?
I think this number is going to be closer to 10 to 15 % in usa and close to 20% globaly !
I personally know 10 folks who upgraded from:
4S = 5
5= 5
5S = 1
I was lone the 5S upgrade …. Got $220 for my phone and new cost $320 with tax …. $65 month unlimited everything with tax ….
Got iPhone 6 with 64 gig!
Nine of the 11 total (10 + me) were for iPhone 6 and two where 6 Plus with one guy getting 128 gig …. And 4 only got the 16 gig and others got 64 gig!
As long as Apple keeps releasing new, insanely great iPhones, this wonderful story will continue.
Exactly. Many here seemed not to understand that I was calling for an iPhone 6 two years ago. Samsung wouldn’t have even gotten as many sales as they did if Apple had been more prompt about delivering a family of phones with different screen sizes & more memory.
Next up: more battery life and a better/more legible/less flat/user font selectable GUI please.
“We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone,” he said. “PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.”
He was right. Apple didn’t just walk in. They were driving a steamroller.
A Forbes FUD article from 2012. I especially like the Android- SamShit- WindBlows take… JUNK!
You can understand Apple’s conundrum. In 2012, the iPhones’s gross profit margins were close to 55%. That is truly wonderful, but it is also unsustainably high now that Android-Samsung and Windows 8 are getting their acts together. The iPhone profit train now accounts for 65% of Apple’s overall profits.
It’s not about GREED, it is about improving quality innovative products.
Full article from 2012.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/richkarlgaard/2012/12/10/steve-jobs-warns-apple-dont-be-greedy/