Android cannibalising Apple share in US, China and Europe: Kantar report

Adding to the falling Apple sales, a new report highlights iOS switchers. If the new Kantar Worldpanel report about worldwide smartphone OS share is to be believed than Google is eating into Apple’s share. Android has continued to grow in the US, China and Europe, while iOS share declined. Moreover, the report also highlights how Windows phones users in Europe have started switching to Android. Android gained 65.5 percent in the US, which has increased by 7.3 percent from the same time previous year. In China’s urban regions, Android phones have about 77 percent market share, which is again up by 6 percent from a year ago. Even in the five popular European regions namely, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, Android’s market share has gone up by 75.6 percent, which is about 7.1 percent gained from the previous year. “This is the strongest growth for Android across the EU5 in more than two years,” said Lauren Guenveur, Kantar mobile analyst, in a statement. “What’s more, the growth is coming not just from one or two players, but from different brands and ecosystems, varying from region to region.” These numbers clearly suggest that Android is gaining an edge over iOS, atleast when it comes to the number of devices. Android’s massive gains in the US are believed to have come from sales by ecosystem partners such as Samsung, Motorola and LG. The Samsung Galaxy S7 is also said to have got a strong start, which has also given Android a boost. “Although it was available for only a few weeks during this sales period, the Samsung Galaxy S7 was the fifth best-selling device in the three months ending March 2016, capturing 4.2% of sales,” Guenveur said. “The Galaxy S6 also performed well, due to price reductions before the S7’s release. Motorola experienced higher sales, particularly with Verizon, and grew to 9.8% of the smartphone market, up from 6.9% a year previously.”