iOS Smartphone Share Dips, Android Increases

Seth Fitzgerald | On 27, Jan 2014

With a plethora of devices around the globe, Android is becoming more prominent than iOS every year. Now that smartphones are taking over in many parts of the world, the greater availability of Android phones combined with their smaller price tags, has made Android the dominant smartphone OS.

New research from Kanatar Worldpanel has shown that in the United States between December 2012 and December 2013, Android's market share grew 4.4% to 50.6%, compared to a decrease in iOS' by 5.8%, forcing it down to a total share of 43.9%.

This difference in market share is much more significant in other parts of the world where Apple has yet to make a major dent in Android's prominence. In many European and Asian countries, Android has controlled the smartphone industry with an iron fist and despite attempts by Apple, iOS has never caught on with the majority of customers, particularly those on a budget.

Spain and China are two great examples of Android's growth around the world. Kantar's data shows that from 2012 to 2013, Android's market share in China grew to 78.6% and in Spain, it reached 86.2%.

In previous years, Apple focussed on the North American markets more than those in Europe and Asia, something that may have led to the difference in market share. However, now that the Cupertino tech giant is realizing the importance of large markets like China, it is attempting to move into those areas of the world.

Android finished 2013 strongly, showing year-on-year share growth across 12 major global markets including Europe, USA, Latin America, China and Japan. Apple has lost share in most countries compared with this time last year, but importantly it has held strong shares in key markets including 43.9% in USA, 29.9% in Great Britain and 19.0% in China. - Dominic Sunnebo, Kantar Worldpanel

Japan is one of the few places where consumers have an unwavered love of everything related to Apple. In that market, iOS was responsible for 68.7% of smartphone sales, a completely different story from almost every other area of the world.

Summary: New research from Kantar Worldpanel has shown that in almost every part of the world, Android is becoming increasingly more popular than iOS. In some countries, including China and Spain, consumers have far less interest in Apple phones, with its market share decreasing to 19 and 6.7 percent respectively.