Samsung owns half of phone market, but look out for Sony
Almost half the smart phones sold in Europe are Samsung Galaxy phones -- but Sony may be staging a comeback.
Almost half of the smart phones sold in Europe are now Samsung Galaxy phones, the latest figures reveal -- but Sony may be staging a comeback.
Industry measurementiser Kantar Worldpanel ComTech reveals that in spring of this year, sales of phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 drove Android to dominate the European smart phone market yet again. And here in Britain, Android climbed to take 56 per of the market.
Apple trails with the iPhone making up less than a third of sales here in the UK. Windows Phone raced to 7.8 per cent of the market, while BlackBerry's percentage share more than halved in the last year.
When it comes time to switch phones, iPhone fans are least likely to switch horses in mid-stream, with a whopping 79 per cent sticking with Apple. Samsung inspires the next strongest feelings of loyalty, but more than a third of customers are still prepared to leave the Korean company.
Android phones make up 70.4 per cent of those sold in Europe. Apple's iPhone accounts for 17.8 per cent of the market, and Microsoft's Windows Phone another 6.8 per cent.
But experts predict Samsung still has a fight on its hands -- and from an unexpected quarter. Kantar reckons Sony, which has been an Android also-ran in recent years, is coming on strong. The waterproof Sony Xperia Z -- winner of a coveted CNET Editors' Choice award -- is driving a resurgence in Sony sales, and Samsung has particular cause to be worried: more than a third of Sony phone owners defected from Samsung when ditching their previous phone.
In the US, things are more evenly split. Android makes up exactly half of the market, give or take a couple of per cent. Apple is breathing down Google's neck with 41.9 per cent of the market.
What is Samsung doing right? Can Sony dethrone Samsung and Apple? Is Windows Phone making the comeback of the century? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or head into the final straight at our Facebook wall.