Rev: 2016-13-June-2122 EDT
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Android Share Growth Slows After
Historic Gains Last Period
In GB, iOS Returns to Growth for First Time Since October 2015
London, June 15, 2016 – The latest smartphone OS data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech for the
three months ending April 2016 shows Android continuing to make year-on-year gains across a
number of regions, though that trend is slowing. In the EU5, Android accounted for 76% of
smartphone sales, up 5.8 percentage points from 70.2% in the three months ending April 2015.
Android share accounted for 67.6% of smartphone sales in the US and 78.8% in China.
Europe's big five markets include Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.
“Android’s gains continued in several regions including the EU5, US, and China, but the rate of growth
has slowed,” said Lauren Guenveur, Consumer Insight Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. “In
the EU5, year-on-year growth between March 2015 and 2016 was 7.1%. For the April-to-April time
frame, that number dropped to 5.8% pts. What’s more, we see only a 0.4 percentage point increase for
the three months ending March 2016, up from 75.6% to 76%.”
“In Great Britain, both Android and iOS had higher market share in the three months ending April
2016. Android represented 58.5% of the market in that period, a gain of 4.1% year-on-year,” said
Dominic Sunnebo, Business Unit Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Europe. “And for iOS, this
term showed the first increase since October 2015, though modest at just 0.4%, from 34.7% to
35.1%. Android gains came from Windows phone owners switching, a trend that produced nearly
10% of new Android customers, while 21.8% of new iOS buyers switched from Android.”
“In Urban China, Android share rose 4.8% year-over-year, and 1.1% period-over-period, to capture
78.8% of smartphone sales in the three months ending April 2016,” noted Tamsin Timpson, Strategic
Insight Director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia. “While movement from featurephones to
smartphones has slowed significantly in developed markets like the US and EU5, this still makes up a
significant proportion of smartphone sales in Urban China. Nearly a third of Android users during this
time were purchasing their first smartphone, in contrast to iOS buyers, of whom only 14% were firsttime smartphone customers.”
“In the US, Android share increased 5.2%, capturing more than two-thirds of smartphone sales in the
three months ending April 2016,” Guenveur added. “While growth in other parts of the world has
clearly been a result of movement either from the Windows ecosystem or a feature phone, Android
gains in the US are powered by repeat customers. Among those replacing their smartphone, more
than nine out of ten (91.4%) of Android buyers owned a previous Android device.”
“In Europe and the US, the smartphone market is approaching saturation, and future successes for either
of the two dominant ecosystems will come chiefly from drawing customers away from the other,”
Guenveur continued. “With Windows phones exiting the market, this battle will only intensify. For AndroidGoogle and iOS-Apple this will mean not only looking to new markets where smartphone penetration has
not yet peaked, such as India, and Latin America, but also to new services and products.”
Recently announced services and products, like Google Assistant, Allo and Duo, the first Tango
phone (Lenovo’s Phab2Pro), a revamped Apple Music, and open development on iOS Siri, Maps,
and Messenger, may play a part in the OS battle.
“We will be closely following all these forms of ecosystem evolution, which will make the next year’s
OS market even more thought-provoking than the last,” Guenveur said.
To view an HTML version of the summary data and an optional PDF file, please visit:
www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/News/Android-Share-Growth-Slows-After-Historic-Gains-Last-Period
Smartphone OS Sales Share (%)
Germany
3 m/e Apr
15
3 m/e Apr
16
3 m/e Apr
15
3 m/e Apr
16
Android
74.4
76.8
2.4
iOS
17.0
15.3
-1.7
Android
62.4
67.6
5.2
iOS
33.2
30.7
-2.5
Windows
7.5
5.9
Other
1.1
2
-1.6
Windows
3.8
1.3
-2.5
0.9
Other
0.7
0.4
-0.3
3 m/e Apr
15
3 m/e Apr
16
% pt.
Change
China
3 m/e Apr
15
3 m/e Apr
16
% pt.
Change
Android
iOS
54.4
58.5
4.1
Android
74.0
78.8
4.8
34.7
35.1
0.4
iOS
24.5
20.1
-4.4
Windows
9.6
5.8
-3.8
Windows
1.0
0.7
-0.3
Other
1.3
0.6
-0.7
Other
0.6
0.4
-0.2
France
3 m/e Apr
15
3 m/e Apr
16
% pt.
Change
Australia
3 m/e Apr
15
3 m/e Apr
16
% pt.
Change
Android
68.6
74.7
6.1
Android
54.4
64
9.6
iOS
17.9
21.5
3.6
iOS
36.3
32.7
-3.6
Windows
12
3.6
-8.4
Windows
7.6
2.8
-4.8
Other
1.4
0.3
-1.1
Other
1.7
1.5
-0.2
3 m/e Apr
15
3 m/e Apr
16
% pt.
Change
Japan
3 m/e Apr
15
3 m/e Apr
16
% pt.
Change
Android
69.4
79.6
10.2
Android
51.6
55.7
4.1
iOS
15.8
13.3
-2.5
iOS
45.6
43.2
-2.4
Windows
13.3
6.4
-6.9
Windows
0.2
0.1
-0.1
GB
Italy
% pt.
Change
USA
% pt.
Change
Other
1.5
0.7
-0.8
Spain
3 m/e Apr
15
3 m/e Apr
16
% pt.
Change
Android
88.6
93.9
5.3
iOS
8.8
5.5
-3.3
Windows
2.5
0.6
Other
0.1
0
Other
2.5
1
-1.5
3 m/e Apr
15
3 m/e Apr
16
% pt.
Change
Android
70.2
76.0
5.8
iOS
19.3
18.3
-1.0
-1.9
Windows
9.3
4.8
-4.5
-0.1
Other
1.2
0.8
-0.3
EU5
Note: The Kantar Worldpanel ComTech dataviz can be embedded into online articles for a visual
representation of Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Smartphone OS market share data. Click here to
copy the embed code.
About Kantar Worldpanel ComTech’s Smartphone OS Market Share Data
Kantar Worldpanel ComTech’s smartphone OS market share data provides the media and
businesses with access to the most up-to-date sales and market share figures for the major
smartphone operating systems. This information is based on research extracted from the Kantar
Worldpanel ComTech global consumer panel. ComTech is the largest continuous consumer
research / mobile phone tracking panel of its kind in the world, conducting over one million
interviews per year in Europe alone. ComTech tracks mobile phone behavior – including phone
purchases, bills/airtime, source of purchase, and usage. It also delivers additional data to promote
an understanding of the drivers of share changes, and consumer insight market dynamics. All
consumer data in this release excludes enterprise sales.
About Kantar Worldpanel
Kantar Worldpanel is the global expert in shoppers’ behavior.
Through continuous monitoring, advanced analytics, and tailored solutions, Kantar Worldpanel
inspires successful decisions by brand owners, retailers, market analysts, and government
organizations globally. With over 60 years’ experience, a team of 3,500, and services covering 60
countries directly or through partners, Kantar Worldpanel turns purchase behavior into competitive
advantage in markets as diverse as FMCG, impulse products, fashion, baby, telecommunications
and entertainment, among many others.
Kantar Worldpanel is part of the Kantar Group, one of the world’s largest insight, information, and
consultancy networks. The Kantar Group is the data investment management division of WPP.
For further information, please visit: www.kantarworldpanel.com
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About Kantar
Kantar is the data investment management division of WPP, and one of the world's largest insight,
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