Demand for Apple’s new iPhone 4S smartphone boosted the company’s iPhone market share in the UK and US but consumers were less interested in the device in Germany, France, Italy and Spain, with sales slipping from last year, a new report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech reveals.
Reuters reports the new study, which highlighted that Apple’s iPhone market share rose to 36% in the U.S in the last quarter from 25% a year earlier, with its UK share rising to 31% from 21%. The report also identified growth in Australia, adding that the iPhone 4S continues to “fly off the shelf in the run-up to Christmas”.
However, Apple’s iPhone market share in France fell to 20% from 29% a year earlier, and dropped from 27% to 22% in Germany, with comparable results in Italy and Spain.
Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar believes the drop in market share in France and other European countries could be down, in part, to “increasing signs of price sensitivity.”
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The fall in Apple’s market share appears to be Google’s gain, with its Android operating system holding shares of between 46% and 61% in all markets that were analysed. German smartphone buyers prefer the Android platform, increasing its market share of the platform to 61%, with Samsung’s Galaxy S II the most popular handset.
Smartphones manufactured by HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG and Motorola contributed to the rise in Android’s share across Europe, as vendors continued to output new handsets before Apple launched the iPhone 4S in October.
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