Huawei Drives Android Growth Globally, Apple Accounts for 1 of 5 Smartphones Sold in US: Kantar

The latest quarterly report from from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech reveals interesting data on smartphone OS market share. The report states that while Android OS market share fell by a small margin in the big five European markets, it grew in other worldwide markets like Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and China. iOS, on the other hand, continues to perform best in the USA, with a 5.9 percent increase in market share in Q2 2018. The report mainly accredits this rise in sales of the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus smartphones, and claims that one out of every five smartphones sold in the US is from Apple.

The report states that iOS accounts for a market share of 38.7 percent in the US, up by 5.9 percent in the second quarter. This was due to the great sales figures of the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. "The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus lead Apple's sales, together accounting for nearly one in five smartphones sold, while iPhone X was the fourth best-selling device during the period. Samsung and LG have both felt the heat from Apple's performance, seeing share fall over the year," the report notes.

Android performed the best in China with 80.4 percent market share in the second quarter, up by 2 percent since last quarter. Huawei, Apple, Xiaomi, and BBK Group (Oppo and Vivo) continue to be dominant in the market, raking in 87 percent of the total sales in China in the second quarter. This is up from 80 percent sales that were reported a year ago. In any case, even though Android is performing so well, the bestselling device is again the iPhone X in China, making up for 5.3 percent of all handsets sold in the country.

As mentioned, Android OS saw a rise in market share in Great Britain, Italy, Japan and China due to good sales from Huawei. Dominic Sunnebo, Global Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said, "Huawei has been making rapid progress in Europe over the past three years, but performance in Great Britain has been lacklustre. To counter this, the manufacturer has taken a dual-pronged approach, attacking the low end of the market with its budget P Smart model and the top end with the well-reviewed P20 Pro. The P20 flagship series has made a big impact in Britain, helping to lift Huawei's share from only 2.7 percent a year ago to 13.7 percent in the past three months, and a successful partnership with Argos has helped both sides become major players in the lucrative British smartphone market."