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Apple Regains Market Share in Some Countries with Strong iPhone 5s Sales

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MacRumors

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Research firm Kantar Worldpanel has released a new report (via TechCrunch) highlighting worldwide smartphone sales over the January-March period, finding that Apple has regained share in markets such as Europe, Japan and Australia due in part to the strong sales performance of the iPhone 5s.

kantar_march_smartphone_sales.jpg
Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, comments: "Apple regained ground in the first quarter of 2014, primarily due to the strong performance of the iPhone 5S, growing its sales share in Europe, Japan and Australia. By contrast, Windows had a tough start to the year as a result of its entry-level Nokia models facing fierce competition from low-end Motorola, LG and Samsung Android smartphones."
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Apple's total market share in Japan, Australia, and Europe hit 57.6%, 33.1%, and 19.2%, which are increases of 8.6%, 2.0%, and 0.1% compared to the same timeframe last year, respectively. In the United States, Apple's market share was at 35.9%, which was down 7.8% compared to the 43.7% market share it held a year ago.

However, Sunnebo noted in a prior Kantar report highlighting smartphone sales over the August-October 2013 period that customers in the U.S. generally react better to "full releases" like the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 than "incremental" updates such as the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c. Apple is expected to release a larger-screen iPhone 6 this year with new features including a thinner profile, faster A8 processor, Touch ID fingerprint sensor, and an improved camera with optical image stabilization.

Meanwhile, the iPhone's surging popularity in Japan has continued in the months following its debut on the country's largest carrier, NTT DoCoMo:
Sunnebo continues: "Japan's love affair with Apple shows no sign of fading. Even though the iPhone has now been available on Japan's largest carrier, NTT DoCoMo, for a number of months Apple still accounts for more than 40% of sales on the network. The success of the iPhone is also filtering through to the iPad, with almost a quarter of Japanese iPhone owners also owning an iPad. With smartphone penetration in Japan lagging well behind Europe and the US, Japan will remain a key growth market for Apple."
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Despite its solid market share in numerous countries however, the iPhone continues to face challenges from Google's Android platform, which had its market share continue hover above 70% in many markets. Microsoft's Windows Phone also increased its market share, with the platform even holding a 4.3% advantage over iOS in Italy.

Article Link: Apple Regains Market Share in Some Countries with Strong iPhone 5s Sales
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/04/28/apple-regains-market-iphone5s-sales/
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Brandon263

macrumors 6502
Sep 12, 2009
404
37
Beaumont, CA
Apple Regains Market Share in Some Countries with Strong iPhone 5s Sales

I honestly thought that Apple's market share in Japan was around 70 percent or something.

It seems that Apple's market share in most countries is decreasing rather than increasing so the headline is misleading.

But from the earnings report, that's not a huge problem, as the overall number of iPhones sold has increased and Apple is still raking in more money than anyone else.
 
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pedromcm.pm

macrumors 6502
Mar 23, 2014
483
0
Porto, Portugal
Really?

Brandon263 said:
I honestly thought that Apple's market share in Japan was around 70 percent or something.

It seems that Apple's market share in most countries is decreasing rather than increasing so the headline is misleading.

But from the earnings report, that's not a huge problem, as the overall number of iPhones sold has increased and Apple is still raking in more money than anyone else.
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So because YOU were thinking something else, everybody else is wrong? Besides, market share by itself is meaningless.

I'm sad about this. I wish Apple was losing market share faster so they would release another iphone line with a bigger screen sooner. Oh well.
 
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Brandon263

macrumors 6502
Sep 12, 2009
404
37
Beaumont, CA
pedromcm.pm said:
So because YOU were thinking something else, everybody else is wrong? Besides, market share by itself is meaningless.

I'm sad about this. I wish Apple was losing market share faster so they would release another iphone line with a bigger screen sooner. Oh well.
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Umm, I was just expressing that I had wrong presumption based on a misreading of an earlier story (below). I didn't say anyone was wrong except for myself...

MacRumors said:
[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


According to research firm Kantar Worldpanel (via Unwired View), the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c accounted for 76% of new smartphone sales in Japan during the month of October, including 61% of phones sold on NTT DoCoMo, the country's biggest carrier.

Availability of the new iPhone 5s and lower-cost iPhone 5c through DoCoMo marks the first time that Apple's mobile phones have been offered on the carrier, coming after a July report pointed to a loss of 3.2 million users over the last four and a half years as the carrier did not have a deal with Apple to offer the iPhone. DoCoMo's losses continued in September with a record loss of 66,800 subscribers, with that drop attributed to a lack of stock of the new iPhone 5s.

Reports of DoCoMo adding the iPhone ramped up ahead of the September iPhone 5s/5c launch following comments from CEO Kazuto Tsubouchi citing "compelling reasons" to reach a deal, and the carrier did indeed launch the new iPhones alongside other Japanese carriers on September 20.

All three major Japanese carriers including DoCoMo, SoftBank, and KDDI have been offering the iPhone 5s free on contract through special promotions since its launch in September. DoCoMo has also been offering rewards points for users who bring in used iPhones from SoftBank or KDDI.

Article Link: iPhone 5s/5c Take 76% of Smartphone Sales in Japan for October
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mcarling

macrumors 65816
Oct 22, 2009
1,292
180
Variation from country to country or from market to market may be due to a number of factors, but one of the big ones is what the telecom carriers are promoting in any given quarter.
 
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Gfxman

macrumors newbie
Apr 9, 2014
6
1
The iPhone price in Italy has gone every year higher and higher.
I think (no, i am sure) it is the most high in europe.
The 16 Gbyte costs 729 euro it is 1011$ ( yes over 1000$ ! )

Given the econimic crisis here, it is perfectly normal that apple is loosing such big shares.....

The price seams to be a carrier request to force people in 30 month contract for 30 euros per month, beacause here in italy the "contract phone" were such a small part of the mobile business witch is strongly attached to the pre-paid sim model.

30 month, not 24! Apple is a victim or simply decided to not look at what carriers decided to do ?
 
S

SwissMac2

macrumors member
Jan 18, 2010
65
2
Switzerland
Only 19% in Europe? Why is Apple weak here? It's a rich, Western economy with affluent consumers (compared to developing markets) nearly always paying more for American electronic goods than Americans do (eg Adobe software, Microsoft software, Apple hardware and so on). Maybe that's the problem?

Or perhaps Apple just doesn't understand the European way of doing things. Whatever, they seriously need to address this issue; a difference of 35% to 19% is just too big.
 
D

DoubleU

macrumors regular
Aug 10, 2008
129
9
mcarling said:
Variation from country to country or from market to market may be due to a number of factors, but one of the big ones is what the telecom carriers are promoting in any given quarter.
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Quite true. The 76% sales figure for Japan was for the month of the iPhone 5s/5c launch. A breakdown of annual sales would be a better indicator of overall gains or losses.
 
C

cdmoore74

macrumors 68020
Jun 24, 2010
2,413
711
MacFather said:
The Big-Screen iPhone 6 will sell like hotcakes.
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Last year I once believed that as well but after owning the the iPhone 5s I jumped right back into the lap of Android. I think many people will do the same for iPhone 6 once they get over the hardware honeymoon because iOS is very lacking compared to Android and iTunes is an unnecessary evil. If you grew up with Android during the iOS golden years you will start to see all the negatives of IOS.
 
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maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,448
43,370
Interesting though the 5S is getting a little long in the tooth (for cell phones). I'm waiting to see if Apple really does introduce a larger iPhone later this year.
 
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Thares

Cancelled
Feb 25, 2011
253
81
cdmoore74 said:
[...] I think many people that will do the same for iPhone 6 once they get over the hardware honeymoon because iOS is very lacking compared to Android and iTunes is an unnecessary evil. [...]
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I don't believe that. I am in need of a new phone since half a year and I was really open to Android. But I found it not pleasing at all. I like to have hardware and software from one company. So I will wait on the new, bigger iPhone. And I think a lot of others will switch back to the iPhone since there is a bigger screen and iOS 7 has been fixed.
 
8

827538

Cancelled
Jul 3, 2013
2,322
2,833
bushido said:
also a bit silly to compare Japan to the whole continent of Europe lol
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Aren't they just comparing it to the big 5? Not the whole EU? Or has the EU finally gone crackers in the face of falling apart and decided to turn us finally into its dream of a single nation? :rolleyes:

Germans are ridiculously money conscious. Unless you really do have loads of spare cash there then they will always choose a cheap and functional Android. Here (UK) every idiot just buys stuff on finance and contracts, just like in the US.

Italy and Spain are broke so no surprise market share is low.

Interesting how well they are doing in Japan though.
 
2

2ms

macrumors 6502
Nov 22, 2002
444
71
iPhone in Italy

The price is a factor, however I am convinced that the main reason iPhone's sell so unusually poorly in Italy is how unusually poorly they are represented in stores in Italy.

If you go in to any major electronics chain store in Italy, all the iPhones are uncharged, ugly screen protectors half peeled off, generally looking like pieces of **** stuffed into a back corner. Meanwhile, you see huge bright white Samsung showcases surrounded with all kinds of promotional stuff and all the staff hovering around dying to sell Samsung products. It's almost comical.

I am convinced that Apple would be better off not selling devices under such conditions at all. It makes Apple look like pathetic loser getting utterly crushed by uber awesome Samsung :rolleyes: And for no reason other than that whoever is in charge of Apple's retail presence in Italy is apparently incompetent.
 
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paysdoufs

macrumors regular
Oct 6, 2013
120
28
macs4nw said:
iPhone6 may change these figures even a bit more in Apple's favor.
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Rather looks like a pretty mixed bag to me... But if you (or Apple) want to adopt a "glass-half-full" approach that's fine.

Meanwhile, IIRC, Italy is the first major Western market where WP > iOS. Will be interesting to see how the iP 6 performs in EU; but I guess its price will (again) be an issue :eek:

Two questions to the forumers:
- How do these figues look like in India?
- What's the prevalent mobile phone pricing/contracting scheme in Japan? The iP's performance there looks unreal :apple:

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SwissMac2 said:
Only 19% in Europe? Why is Apple weak here? It's a rich, Western economy with affluent consumers (compared to developing markets) nearly always paying more for American electronic goods than Americans do (eg Adobe software, Microsoft software, Apple hardware and so on). Maybe that's the problem?

Or perhaps Apple just doesn't understand the European way of doing things. Whatever, they seriously need to address this issue; a difference of 35% to 19% is just too big.
Click to expand...

I know it's hard to believe from a Swiss persepective, but there has been a violent economic crisis in most European countries --> read: unenployment and stagnating buying power...

In addition (again in contrast to CH) the market share of mobile phone sold w/o subsidies is becoming bigger and bigger.
 
AlexisV

AlexisV

macrumors 68000
Mar 12, 2007
1,714
263
Manchester, UK
maflynn said:
Interesting though the 5S is getting a little long in the tooth (for cell phones). I'm waiting to see if Apple really does introduce a larger iPhone later this year.
Click to expand...

Yep, it's still an evolution of the 4 really.

Everything should rocket when the 6 comes out in September.
 
T

timber

macrumors 65816
Aug 30, 2006
1,147
2,110
Lisbon
The iPhone sales model seems (from my perspective) to be heavily modelled after the USA model of carrier subsidies.

In a short story the iPhone costs around 900 something USD (almost 1000) around here. I'm talking about the 5s which everybody recognises as the real iPhone. The 5c has almost the same prices and the 4s is just too old to be taken seriously.

The fact that Apple keeps around 20% of market share shows how much Europeans value iOS and it's ecosystem because just on reasoning they should sell nothing.
 
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