Thanks to the release of the iPhone 5 back in September, Apple has captured a 53 percent of the smartphone market in the United States – the very first time it has passed the 50 percent barrier. The number crunching was carried out by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, and its most recent sales data figures show the Cupertino company’s market share has increased dramatically on the 37 percent recorded at the same period of last year, and takes into consideration the 12-week period ending on November 25th.
Android, comparatively, is sat at 42 percent, although there are a variety of factors as to why Apple is painted in such a favorable light. The strong earlier sales of the flagship Android smartphone – the Samsung Galaxy S III – would not have been taken into account here, and although the stats are impressive, the fact that the iPhone 4S released some three weeks later in the year than its 2012 successor is a key factor in why the leap is so dramatic.
Following the same period of time last year, Android had a sizeable 53 percent of the market share, and although its figures in Europe still look very healthy at 61 percent, the iPhone has come along strongly indeed. The numbers take into account sales of all iPhone variants and models, although it’s fair to say the vast majority will have been of the new, dual-core A6-packing handset.
Kantar’s Dominic Sunnebo expects to see Apple’s market share increase even further in the coming weeks:
Apple has reached a major milestone in the US by passing the 50% share mark for the first time, with further gains expected to be made during December.
Meanwhile, RIM and Symbian have continued to plummet, and although Windows Phone has gained a little momentum on last year’s figures, the fledgling platform is still struggling to make an impression on a market dominated by two major platforms.
With an exciting range of devices including the Nokia Lumia 920 on offer with Windows Phone 8, its success will depend on how many apps it can generate over the next twelve months. WP8 itself is arguably the slickest, most innovative platform on the market, and with BlackBerry 10 looking an encouraging re-make of the struggling ecosystem, Kantar’s stats could take a very different shape this time next year.
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