The latest smartphone OS data from Kantar shows that iOS returned to growth in the USA and EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom), accounting for 31.8% and 18.2% of smartphone sales, respectively, in the second quarter of 2016. “Together they contributed to iOS growth of 3.1 percentage points to 37.2 percent in the second quarter of 2016”, said Dominic Sunnebo, analyst for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Europe. Things were looking up across the EU5, with iOS representing more than 20-percent of smartphone sales in France and jumping one point higher to 14.2-percent in Germany. The EU5 consists of Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.
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While sales of Android devices still outstrip Apple’s iPhone as much as four to one in some countries, the USA company’s market share has returned to growth for the first time since late previous year. “Android accounted for 65.5% of smartphone sales, a small decline from the 66.1% of the same period a year ago”. But the SE remained firmly behind Apple’s iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s, which ended June with a 15.1 percent share, and Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, which commanded a 14.1 percent share. Remarkably, iPhone 6s, Apple’s existing flagship phone, stood second behind iPhone SE in the list of top selling handsets in the second quarter.
China, in particular, will suffer from the symptoms of saturation: IDC estimates the country will see “low single digit growth rates” this year.
There was less good news in China, where Apple’s share dropped 1.8% to 17.9%, putting Apple behind both Huawei and Xiaomi, both companies offering handsets at a wide range of prices. With the continued supply constraints of the iPhone SE, that model was not able to make the expected impact, accounting for 2.5 percent of smartphone sales in the quarter.
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With strong demand for the iPhone SE throughout the second quarter, it will be interesting to track whether iOS growth will continue through the third quarter, assuming that supplies become less constrained. “Anticipation for the newest iPhone, usually released in late September every year, typically means a weaker summer period for iOS”, said Kantar. However analysts are hopeful that the huge number of iPhone owners in the U.S. and China with older iPhones means Apple has a huge opportunity – if it can entice them to upgrade and it solves its supply line problems. It recycles numerous components of other iPhones and has a four-inch screen that is smaller than Apple’s current flagship iPhone 6S handset.
