Europeans just seem to love their Android devices, with Samsung selling almost half of all smartphones sold in major European markets, according to new data from WPP/Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
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With the rapid penetration of Google’s Android operating system growing across the region, Android-based smartphones accounted for more than 70 per cent of sales in the top five European markets in the three months to the end of May, compared with 61 per cent in the same period the year before, according to research by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, published in the Financial Times. By comparison, Apple’s iPhone sales have a share of less than a fifth and Windows phones comprise about 7 per cent.
However, Americans seem to lean towards Apple, whose iPhone was right out in front in terms of growing market share in the US, up 3.5 per cent to 42 per cent. Google’s platform stayed steady in the US, however, with a share of about half the US market over the past year.
Paul Moore, global director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, part of WPP, which compiled the data, says: “Across Europe, Android growth remains strong. However, in the US, Apple’s expanded distribution agreement with T-Mobile is helping the iPhone keep Android growth at bay.
“T-Mobile is the smallest of the big four US carriers, but it does have the capacity to give iOS a boost, particularly as 28 per cent of its customers plan to buy an iPhone when they next upgrade,” he told the FT.
