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iPhone number one in Japan for the holiday season
We already know Apple's hardware was a hit in China during the last part of 2012, and new data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows that Japan felt the same way, at least when it comes to the iPhone. According to the firm's most recent data from the end of 2012, the iPhone holds an astonishing two-thirds of the Japanese smartphone market. Kantar's figures also show that Windows Phone is beginning to gain a foothold in Europe, but it remains far behind iOS and Android in the US and China. Android remained in first place on a global scale, though iOS does currently hold the crown in the states and Japan. [Via: The Loop]
Apple at highest-ever iPhone marketshare in US
All models of the iPhone accounted for 53.3 percent of all smartphone purchases in the US in the 12 weeks ending November 25, according to research from Kantar Worldpanel Comtech. That's good news for Apple, as the figure is the highest it's ever been in the US, rising more than 5 percentage points from the 12-week figure from October. Android, at 41.9 percent, and RIM were the the losers in the US. The Windows Phone platform is now in third place, grabbing a little over 7 percent of all purchases in the study time period. While the marketshare news is positive in the US, things aren't as nice for Apple in Europe. Android phones account for over 61 percent of all smartphones sold in Europe's top five markets, with Apple trailing drastically at just 25 percent. Developing markets are also iPhone-unfriendly. Android phones sucked up sales in both Brazil, with a 60.7 percent share of the smartphone market, and China at a whopping 72.2 percent.
Shocker: smartphone users like bigger screens, market share may respond accordingly
There's been a trend towards big smartphones. Sometimes, really big. Even so, concerns have persisted that the cart is driving the horse -- that customers are buying big phones because that's what's available, not because they have a preference. Kantar Worldpanel ComTech might not put that issue to bed once and for all, but its latest study suggests that there's at least some appeal to all that extra glass. Among Android phones sold in the past three months across eight countries, 29 percent of them had a screen larger than 4.5 inches. Their owners were unsurprisingly more active as well, using the internet and watching videos more often than those whose phones have more modest displays. Market share might be following suit. Throughout the countries Kantar is tracking, Android still has roughly half or more of the market, ranging from 46.8 percent in Brazil to a staggering 86.8 percent of Spain. In Europe alone, it was up by just over a fifth from a year ago. We know iOS is taking a beating outside of the US as a result. Before anyone calls the trend irreversible, however, remember that we're on the edge of an unpredictable period: we know some mobile fans have been holding out for a new iPhone, and all the apparent rumors have Apple choosing a bigger screen that might satisfy some outstanding gripes with screen sizes. We're also anticipating at least a few Windows Phone wildcards that could shake up the status quo and make this a three-horse race.
