iPhone 5 propels iOS ahead of Android on U.S. smartphones
During the 12 weeks ended October 28, Apple's iOS nabbed a 48.1 percent smartphone market share, compared to Android's 46.7 percent. But overseas, it's a different story.
The iPhone 5 has proved to be a major factor in Android's battle with Apple's iOS.
According to new data published today by research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, iOS was able to nab 48.1 percent of the U.S. smartphone market during the 12-week period ended October 28, just beating out Android's 46.7 percent share.
But elsewhere around the world, iOS isn't nearly as popular. According to the research firm, Android was running on 73.9 percent of all smartphones purchased in Germany during the same period. Android took 81.7 percent of Spain's smartphone market.
Apple's success during the 12-week period came by way of the iPhone 5, Kantar said. The company noted that the last time iOS led Android in its studies was when the iPhone 4S hit store shelves last year. iOS held on to the top spot for three consecutive periods before eventually giving ground to Android.
The iPhone 5 arrived in late September, giving it only about one month to affect the Kantar survey. Kantar didn't say how many iPhone 5 units Apple sold during the period, but it noted that 62 percent of iPhone 5 buyers in the U.S. already owned an iPhone. The research firm found that 13 percent of Android owners switched to the iPhone, compared to 6 percent of BlackBerry device owners.
Apple has benefited strongly from customer loyalty. According to Kantar, 92 percent of those who own an iPhone will upgrade to another Apple smartphone when they can.
Kantar's study comes just a few weeks after research firm IDC offered up its own evaluation of the smartphone market during the third quarter. IDC found that Android owned 75 percent of the worldwide smartphone market, leaving just 14.9 percent to iOS.
Kantar Worldpanel ComTech gets its results from consumer panels in 12 countries: the U.S., the U.K., France, Italy, Germany, Spain, China, Japan, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.
(Via Patently Apple)
