In Urban China, Huawei Becomes the Best Selling Android Brand

The latest smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech for the three months ending in May 2015 shows the Android OS continuing to reclaim market share in the US, where it has increased by 2.8 percentage points to 64.9%.However, Android is not showing much improvement in the Europe “big five,” where it dropped 2.9 percentage points, compared to the same period in 2014. Europe's big five markets are Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

“The first full month of sales of the Galaxy S6 allowed Samsung to regain the market lead in the US and grow its share of Android sales from 52% in the three months ending in April to 55% for the three months ending in May,” reported Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. “Samsung’s share of the US smartphone market grew period-over-period, as the Galaxy S6 became the third best-selling smartphone in the US, after the iPhone 6 and the Galaxy S5.Samsung’s year-over-year performance also improved, with its US market share now down only 0.5 percentage point compared to 1.6 percentage points in the three months ending in April.”

In the US, the momentum of iOS slowed as share declined, both period-over-period and year-over-year. “Sales of Android-based smartphones were fueled not only by Samsung, but also by LG, which was able to nearly double its share of the US smartphone market year-over-year,” Milanesi added. “Other tier-one Android players, such as HTC and Motorola, had a more difficult period, with their share decreasing both year-over-year and period-over-period, raising hopes for competitors – such as Huawei and Sony, who have yet to wow US consumers – that share could be up for grabs.”

Across Europe, demand for the iPhone 6 remained strong, with this model topping the chart in Great Britain, Germany, Italy and France. “Britain remains the iOS stronghold, forcing Android vendors to rely more on winning customers from Apple than from other Android players,” said Dominic Sunnebo, business unit director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Europe.” In the three months ending in May, only 5% of new Android buyers came from Apple, compared to 11% for the same period in 2014.”

“In urban China, the two-horse race became a three-horse race, as the market leader Apple, followed by Huawei now at number two, and Xiaomi in the third spot, are all within a 0.5 percentage point share of one another,” said Tamsin Timpson, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia. “While share might be close, each vendor’s customer base is quite different. Xiaomi and Apple capture the more affluent users, with 39% of Huawei’s sales falling among consumers with a monthly income of less than 2000 RMBs. Geographically, close to 7% of Apple’s sales come from the top four cities in China – Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen – while for Xiaomi, that number is 2%.”

“China has become the most interesting market for mobile, both in terms of the importance it plays in a vendor’s success, and its role as an incubator of new brands that quickly gain global status.” Milanesi concluded.

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