US Edition The latest smartphone data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows, however, that three quarters of the sales were from existing Apple users upgrading their handsets. Just 14 per cent were upgrading from the iPhone 4 to the newer 4S.
Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at the panel, said that overtaking Android, even for just a month, was “a feat many thought impossible for Apple”. Over the last year, Apple sales ranged from 20.8 per cent to 18.5 per cent, and then up to 27.8 per cent. The most recent rise was at the expense of Android, whose share fell over October from 49.9 per cent to 46 per cent.
Apple’s overall share in the latest 12 weeks of data was up 2.8 per cent; smartphones made up 69.8 per cent of sales, meaning that 44.8 per cent of the British population now owns a smartphone. Overall, Apple was second to Google’s Android.
Symbian’s market share fell 10.2 per cent year-on-year to 3.9 per cent, BlackBerry fell 1.3 per cent to 19.6 per cent. The new Windows Phone 7 OS rose 0.8 per cent to 1 per cent overall, but Android was the biggest winner, rising 11.8 per cent to 46 per cent.
Sunnebo added said “While unwavering loyalty is clearly great news for Apple, it is likely to be a relief for other smartphone operators. With Apple predominantly driving sales from within its existing customer base, it leaves the field wide open for the likes of Nokia, BlackBerry, Samsung and HTC to focus on converting the remaining 29 million adults who don’t yet have a smartphone to their brand.”