Android's slice of U.S. smartphone sales slid by 7.6 percent over the three month-period ending July, says research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. September 4, 2013 8:26 AM PDT (Credit: Kantar Worldpanel ComTech) Android may be seeing fewer sales in the U.S. lately but it still reigns supreme. Over the three months ending in July, Android's share of U.S. smartphone sales sunk to 51.1 percent, Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said on Wednesday. That number was down 7.6 percent from the 58.7 percent captured in the same period last year. The research firm blamed the fall on fewer first-time smartphone buyers. "Android's decline in sales is due to its decreasing share of first-time smartphone buyers, a key consumer group in the U.S., as over half of the market still own a feature phone," Kantar Global Strategic Insight Director Dominic Sunnebo said in a statement. "Between July 2011 and July 2012, 52 percent of customers that bought an Android device previously owned a feature phone. Over this past year, that number has declined to 46 percent." Over the same time, iOS watched its share of sales rise to 43.4 percent, up from 35.6 percent in the year-ago period. Apple was helped by first-time smartphone buyers, who have steadily accounted for 43 percent of iPhone purchases. Demand for the iPhone 4 among first-time buyers grew to 15 percent in this year's three-month July period compared with 9 percent over the same time last year. Windows Phone saw its share of sales inch up just half a percentage point. But Kantar predicts heavier demand thanks to Microsoft's just-announced buyout of Nokia's device and services division. "With Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia, we may see a larger proportion of consumers choosing a Windows device over iOS or Android, replicating the strength seen in Europe and Mexico (where lower priced Nokia handsets now represent about one in ten of every smartphone sold)," Kantar stated. "Windows has shown, in the past, particular strength among first-time smartphone buyers, and Nokia has benefited the most from the OS growth thus far. Nokia, as a brand, still represents seven percent of the feature phone market, and it is likely that many of these consumers will upgrade in the coming year." Kantar's data comes from its USA consumer panel, which conducts more than than 240,000 interviews of mobile phone users each year in the U.S. alone. The data measures sales rather than market share.
Android's slice of U.S. smartphone sales slid by 7.6 percent over the three month-period ending July, says research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
(Credit: Kantar Worldpanel ComTech)
Android may be seeing fewer sales in the U.S. lately but it still reigns supreme.
Over the three months ending in July, Android's share of U.S. smartphone sales sunk to 51.1 percent, Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said on Wednesday. That number was down 7.6 percent from the 58.7 percent captured in the same period last year.
The research firm blamed the fall on fewer first-time smartphone buyers.
"Android's decline in sales is due to its decreasing share of first-time smartphone buyers, a key consumer group in the U.S., as over half of the market still own a feature phone," Kantar Global Strategic Insight Director Dominic Sunnebo said in a statement. "Between July 2011 and July 2012, 52 percent of customers that bought an Android device previously owned a feature phone. Over this past year, that number has declined to 46 percent."
Over the same time, iOS watched its share of sales rise to 43.4 percent, up from 35.6 percent in the year-ago period. Apple was helped by first-time smartphone buyers, who have steadily accounted for 43 percent of iPhone purchases. Demand for the iPhone 4 among first-time buyers grew to 15 percent in this year's three-month July period compared with 9 percent over the same time last year.
Windows Phone saw its share of sales inch up just half a percentage point. But Kantar predicts heavier demand thanks to Microsoft's just-announced buyout of Nokia's device and services division.
"With Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia, we may see a larger proportion of consumers choosing a Windows device over iOS or Android, replicating the strength seen in Europe and Mexico (where lower priced Nokia handsets now represent about one in ten of every smartphone sold)," Kantar stated. "Windows has shown, in the past, particular strength among first-time smartphone buyers, and Nokia has benefited the most from the OS growth thus far. Nokia, as a brand, still represents seven percent of the feature phone market, and it is likely that many of these consumers will upgrade in the coming year."
Kantar's data comes from its USA consumer panel, which conducts more than than 240,000 interviews of mobile phone users each year in the U.S. alone. The data measures sales rather than market share.
