Apple's Smartphone Market Share Surge Continues through December on iPhone 4S Strength

MacRumors · Jan 18, 2012

Last week, research firm NPD released data showing that Apple's iOS had significantly closed the gap on Android in new U.S. smartphone sales in October and November, narrowing Android's 34 percentage-point lead to just four points in the wake of the iPhone 4S debut.

Nielsen now takes a look at its own data, showing similar momentum that had carried over through the end of 2011.

Among recent acquirers, meaning those who said they got a new device within the past three months, 44.5 percent of those surveyed in December said they chose an iPhone, compared to just 25.1 percent in October. Furthermore, 57 percent of new iPhone owners surveyed in December said they got an iPhone 4S.

Breaking the data down into monthly surveys of people who had acquired a new smartphone over the previous three months, that iPhone 4S effect resulted in iOS nearly matching Android in share of recent smartphone acquirers as of December.

Given the three-month windows of time covered by each monthly survey, December's data would include at least several weeks of time prior to the iPhone 4S launch. Data for January could thus show even stronger performance by Apple, although some of the early iPhone 4S adopters may fall out of the January sample due to the three-month window having closed, depending on when during the month the data is collected.

Article Link: Apple's Smartphone Market Share Surge Continues through December on iPhone 4S Strength

Xenc · Jan 18, 2012

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Poor BlackBerry.

*LTD* · Jan 18, 2012

Just a couple of models achieving this against a veritbale flood of OEMs running a universally-licensed OS.

No surprise, though. Apple's nailed a strategy that lasts over the long term.

samcraig · Jan 18, 2012

*LTD* said:
Just a couple of models achieving this against a veritbale flood of OEMs running a universally-licensed OS.

No surprise, though. Apple's nailed a strategy that lasts over the long term.

Irrelevant. Whether there are 1,000,000 phones vs the one iPhone or not - people only buy one phone for themselves. They either buy an iphone or they buy a non-iPhone. So it doesn't matter how many iPhone models or how many android models there are other than those choosing android can choose from different form factors. But primarily it's IOS vs Android.

bassfingers · Jan 18, 2012

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~50% of American smart phone buyers couldn't possibly be buying that phone because it's clearly the best? Nooooo

*LTD* · Jan 18, 2012

But Siri is a gimmick, the 4S was a letdown, no change in form-factor, and it's using an "old" UI that has barely changed since its debut.

/s

(It seems some designs are are just *that* good.)

Rodimus Prime · Jan 18, 2012

US != the world.

And do not forget you have pent up demand so the 4Q for iPhones is rather worthless for the data point as it has 3 extra months of pent up demand due to the delay of the next iPhone. Get back to me in 3-4 months and see if the trend holds.

jayducharme · Jan 18, 2012

I wonder how much of the gain is due to Sprint finally offering the iPhone. Some smaller carriers in the south are supposed to get the iPhone as well. As long as Apple keeps expanding carriers, they should continue to grab more market share. For many people, there's not much choice if the iPhone carriers don't have coverage in their area. And for a lot of people, the extra monthly expense that comes with having a smartphone isn't an option.

*LTD* · Jan 18, 2012

Rodimus Prime said:
US != the world.

US = a massive market, and arguably one of the most coveted. The US market can do wonders for your brand power.

It speaks to the strength of Apple products when with just a couple of models they can capture significant share (all under one roof, never mind tons of OEMs.)

Now, given that, imagine what it means for a product like that to capture majority or near-majority share, in the wake of a market flooded by OEMs running a universally-licensed OS.

samcraig · Jan 18, 2012

*LTD* said:
But Siri is a gimmick, the 4S was a letdown, no change in form-factor, and it's using an "old" UI that has barely changed since its debut.

/s

(It seems some designs are are just *that* good.)

Siri is a gimmick. The 4S was a bump in specs - not something fully evolutionary in the product line.

Still - there was pent up demand and the fact that you now had Sprint selling the iPhone made a big difference as well.

I get your sarcasm - but it's really not far from the truth.

lincolntran · Jan 18, 2012

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*LTD* said:
Rodimus Prime said:

US != the world.

Click to expand...

US = a massive market, and arguably one of the most coveted. The US market can do wonders for your brand power.

It speaks to the strength of Apple products when with just a couple of models they can capture significant share (all under one roof, never mind tons of OEMs.)

Now, given that, imagine what it means for a product like that to capture majority or near-majority share, in the wake of a market flooded by OEMs running a universally-licensed OS.

Agree. US market is the biggest in term of revenue earning. Other markets are not even close in comparison. People in the US Market buy a lot of phones and Apps than others.

Rodimus Prime · Jan 18, 2012

samcraig said:
Siri is a gimmick. The 4S was a bump in specs - not something fully evolutionary in the product line.

Still - there was pent up demand and the fact that you now had Sprint selling the iPhone made a big difference as well.

I get your sarcasm - but it's really not far from the truth.

Damn those pesky little facts.

roadbloc · Jan 18, 2012

I forgot that the rest of the world was tiny and unimportant compared to the US.

raejae · Jan 18, 2012

samcraig said:
Siri is a gimmick. The 4S was a bump in specs - not something fully evolutionary in the product line.

Still - there was pent up demand and the fact that you now had Sprint selling the iPhone made a big difference as well.

I get your sarcasm - but it's really not far from the truth.

For somebody who spends 2+ hours a day driving to/from work and communicates mainly via text message, Siri is -not- a gimmick.

This is just one example, but your opinion is not fact. There are many people (myself included) for whom Siri is the killer feature that made them buy the product. I was prepared to hunker down and get another year out of my 3GS until I saw this feature.

samcraig · Jan 18, 2012

raejae said:
For somebody who spends 2+ hours a day driving to/from work and communicates mainly via text message, Siri is -not- a gimmick.

This is just one example, but your opinion is not fact. There are many people (myself included) for whom Siri is the killer feature that made them buy the product. I was prepared to hunker down and get another year out of my 3GS until I saw this feature.

I think you'll find that you're in the minority. I'm not saying Siri is useLESS. I'm saying for most - like facetime - it is something experimented with and used sporadically.

firewood · Jan 18, 2012

samcraig said:
Irrelevant. Whether there are 1,000,000 phones vs the one iPhone or not - people only buy one phone for themselves.

Absolutely not true, if you know anything about manufacturing and service.

It costs much much more to manufacture complex devices in small quantities than in huge quantities. Furthermore the community of people who can help you with your device (user communities, such as here) and the number of repair people experienced with fixing the device will be massively larger for high volume devices. Just try to find an experienced Bugatti repair person or any spare parts in your neighborhood.

Same with accessories such as cases, and apps skinned or customized for features unique to that single particular device (as opposed to generic apps for the OS).

Rodimus Prime · Jan 18, 2012

raejae said:
For somebody who spends 2+ hours a day driving to/from work and communicates mainly via text message, Siri is -not- a gimmick.

This is just one example, but your opinion is not fact. There are many people (myself included) for whom Siri is the killer feature that made them buy the product. I was prepared to hunker down and get another year out of my 3GS until I saw this feature.

You should not be using your phone while driving. If anything Siri made things worse not better as now you can feel you can txt while driving.

samcraig · Jan 18, 2012

firewood said:
Absolutely not true, if you know anything about manufacturing and service.

It costs much much more to manufacture complex devices in small quantities than in huge quantities. Furthermore the community of people who can help you with your device (user communities, such as here) and the number of repair people experienced with fixing the device will be massively larger for high volume devices. Just try to find an experienced Bugatti repair person or any spare parts in your neighborhood.

Same with accessories such as cases, and apps skinned or customized for features unique to that single particular device (as opposed to generic apps for the OS).

I think you missed my point entirely. It's cool.

ChazUK · Jan 18, 2012

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I couldn't knock Apple at all for their iPhone 4s sales looking at these figures. Amazing performance.
It seems that it's doing just fine despite being dismissed by quite a few people as a marginal upgrade.

Incredible performance.

eTron · Jan 18, 2012

*LTD* said:
US = a massive market, and arguably one of the most coveted. The US market can do wonders for your brand power.

It speaks to the strength of Apple products when with just a couple of models they can capture significant share (all under one roof, never mind tons of OEMs.)

Now, given that, imagine what it means for a product like that to capture majority or near-majority share, in the wake of a market flooded by OEMs running a universally-licensed OS.

I signed in just to say... Well said!

coder12 · Jan 18, 2012

Rodimus Prime said:
You should not be using your phone while driving. If anything Siri made things worse not better as now you can feel you can txt while driving.

People will always text and drive, as long as there are cell phones at least. I'd rather have someone watching the road and texting while driving rather than someone staring at their crotch, texting, and driving.

On the other side of things, for those who nay-say against Siri, she certainly rocks when it comes to Speech to Text; seriously, I haven't typed a single message in a long time without using STT.

insider-man · Jan 18, 2012

lincolntran said:
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Agree. US market is the biggest in term of revenue earning. Other markets are not even close in comparison. People in the US Market buy a lot of phones and Apps than others.

I'll tell you for nothing, APAC last year overtook EMEA as the No 2 region for Apple sales and once Apple gets full availability in China, APAC will become there biggest market.

This is what is expected internal at Apple from Tim Cook downwards, they are focusing a lot of resource in China and once the market is tapped it'll dwarf the US market.

Bernard SG · Jan 18, 2012

samcraig said:
Irrelevant. Whether there are 1,000,000 phones vs the one iPhone or not - people only buy one phone for themselves. They either buy an iphone or they buy a non-iPhone. So it doesn't matter how many iPhone models or how many android models there are other than those choosing android can choose from different form factors. But primarily it's IOS vs Android.

Are you basically saying that the only reason to get an Android handset is that you don't like iPhone/iOS, irrespectively of the Android phone's own merits?

duffman9000 · Jan 18, 2012

Rodimus Prime said:
You should not be using your phone while driving. If anything Siri made things worse not better as now you can feel you can txt while driving.

Ok Dad. Us kids can multitask while we drive to the store to buy pampers.

JPIndustrie · Jan 18, 2012

Bernard SG said:
Are you basically saying that the only reason to get an Android handset is that you don't like iPhone/iOS, irrespectively of the Android phone's own merits?

C'mon now; is there really any other reason? Anything besides the typical "I like open source".

Open? Yeah, try it. Windows Mobile 4-6.x did the hacking thing better though. Least you didn't have to know UNIX cmds.

I do not think either will win in the end. There will always be the ones that appreciate whatever either side does.

Apple's Smartphone Market Share Surge Continues through December on iPhone 4S Strength

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