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Android powers four in every five smartphones thanks to growth in China
Gartner's third-quarter smartphone research report is out, and on the surface it paints a very flattering portrait for Google. Mirroring Strategy Analytics' report at the end of last month, Gartner also estimates that Android has crossed the symbolic 80 percent mark, reaching 81.9 percent of smartphone shipments in the last quarter, a 9.3 percent rise from last year. In comparison, analysts believe sales of Apple smartphones dropped 2.2 percentage points over the year to hold 12.1 percent of the smartphone market. Microsoft continued to take small steps to boost its market share, with Nokia's strong US sales helping Windows Phone grow to 3.6 percent of the market. Lenovo's impressive run of smartphone sales helped it almost silently climb to number three, leapfrogging LG in the process.
Android to iPhone trend accelerating
Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) released new data highlighting, among other things, that an increasing number of Android users are making the leap to the iPhone. AppleInsider was able to access the entirety of the report and relayed a few of the more notable details. Specifically, CIRP interviewed 400 new iPhone 5s and 5c buyers and found that 20 percent of surveyed respondents were upgrading from Android devices. In 2012, that number was 16 percent. Also of note, and clearly evident in the chart above, is that many iPhone buyers are already existing iPhone owners. Indeed, the stickiness of the iOS ecosystem is often overlooked when evaluating the significance of smartphone marketshare. As for specific data points, the number of existing iPhone users upgrading to new iPhone models this year checked in at 65 percent, an increase from the 55 percent figure CIRP recorded during last year's iPhone 5 launch. On a related point, and speaking to the stickiness of the iOS ecosystem once again, CIRP found that just 7 percent of Samsung smartphone buyers were upgrading from iPhones. There's a lot more data over at AppleInsider that's worth checking out. On a final note, I think it's important to point out once more that iPhone users, by and large, exhibit more brand loyalty than other smartphone users. While cynics will likely attribute this to "fanbois" or other such nonsense, the reality is that consumers are likely to stick with brands and products that they enjoy and which work well for them. To that end, smartphone marketshare can be informative, but not necessarily as instructive as it would otherwise appear. In short, Apple doesn't busy itself trying to amass market share, however temporary, to appear like a popular brand in surveys. On the contrary, Apple is more concerned with the type of user it attracts than the sheer volume of users that other companies are seemingly preoccupied with.
iPad market share struggles in China
Research firm IDC reports that iPad shipments to China fell sharply during the second quarter of 2013, dropping from over 50 percent of the country's tablet market to only 28 percent. The iPad is still the top tablet in China, with Samsung grabbing an 11 percent share and Lenovo an 8 percent piece of the pie. Analyst Dickie Chang noted that there was strong demand for low-priced Android tablets from "white box vendors" -- that is, very generic devices from relatively unknown manufacturers. Chang said that "...consumers are becoming more familiar with the tablet product. They can use Android tablets from Samsung, Lenovo or others from small white box vendor guys because the price is cheap." How cheap? An Android tablet from Chinese manufacturer Onda sells for as little as 699 yuan (US$113) equipped with a quad-core processor, 8-inch screen and a 5-megapixel camera. A total of 46 percent of all tablet shipments came from vendors that IDC listed as "others" -- that means that individually, they each had a market share of less than 1 percent. Apple can take some solace in the fact that Microsoft's share of the Chinese tablet market is less than 1 percent, with only 37,000 units shipped. Confusingly, Chang also noted that the drop in iPad units shipped could just be Apple reducing inventories of the iPad and iPad mini in preparation for the introduction of new models. It appears that only time will tell if Chinese consumers are really jumping away from the iPad, or just waiting for the latest and greatest models from Cupertino.
Captain's Log: Interview with STO's Daniel Stahl, wrap-up
Late in May I had the opportunity to head over to Cryptic Studios to meet and interview several members of the Star Trek Online development team. This week I will be finishing up my synopsis of my conversation with Star Trek Online' Executive Producer Daniel Stahl. We were able to touch on his hopes for the game's user-generated content tool, The Foundry, and he also shared a lot of his thoughts on the potential market growth for STO as well as Cryptic's new subsidiary Cryptic North. Join us after the cut as we discuss what all of this might mean for the future of the studio and for Star Trek Online.
iPhone sales in India may not be as poor as initially reported
The Times of India yesterday, citing research data from IDC, reported that iPhone sales in India have slowed down dramatically over the past few months. The research data indicated that Apple's marketshare in the country recently dropped from 4.7 percent down to 2.1 percent amidst slumping sales. As for unit sales, the data relayed that while Apple sold 230,000 iPhones during the last quarter of 2012, the company only sold 120,000 iPhones during the first quarter of 2013. So should Apple investors be worried? Has the iPhone lost its luster, perhaps rivaled by competing products from Samsung and pushed to the side to make room for more affordable feature phones? Not exactly. Electronista is reporting that IDC's data may not be entirely accurate and is at odds with data from other market research firms. The data, reported in the Economic Times, claims the company sold only 120,000 iPhones between January and March 2013 -- however IDC's own estimate of Apple's marketshare in the country suggests that in fact it sold nearly double that number, around 210,000 iPhones (using total handset sales figures from Strategy Analytics). A report from Credit Suisse in May said Apple was selling nearly 400,000 iPhones per month during the same period. What's more, Electronista points out that with Apple significantly expanding the number of authorized resellers in the country -- from 70 to over 200 -- it's hard to fathom that iPhone sales would drop so precipitously. Indeed, all of the previous reports coming out of India suggested that Apple's aggressive marketing campaign in the country was paying off dividends. Apple is slated to announce its earnings from the quarter gone by on July 23, so we should have a better grasp on how iPhone sales are doing soon enough. While Apple may not release specific numbers for iPhone sales in India, one can only assume that an analyst will bring it up during Apple's always informative earnings conference call.
IDC: Tablets to outsell notebooks in 2013, all PCs in 2015
Well, that certainly didn't take long. The modern tablet, introduced by Apple with the first iPad in 2010, is completely changing the market for computing devices. IDC today released projections showing that tablet shipments will beat those of notebook computers this year, and that by 2015 more tablets will be sold than all types of PCs combined. That's not the only interesting information included in the IDC report: the company also notes that tablets with screens less than eight inches in size have already overtaken sales of devices with larger screens like the 9.7-inch iPad. IDC shows slight growth in sales of the smaller tablets into 2017, with devices with screens larger than the original iPad expected to pull in 6 percent of sales by that year. [via MacRumors]
Gartner: Android and Samsung dominate the phone market in Q1
If you've been following the trends, Gartner's mobile phone market figures for the first quarter of 2013 won't surprise. The research firm estimates that Android was on 74.4 percent of all smartphones sold in the period, with Samsung the key beneficiary of such dominance. While the Korean behemoth doesn't release solid sales figures, Gartner believes its market-flooding strategy has paid off, topping the league with 30.8 percent market share -- Apple has a firm grip on second place, with 18.2 percent, which is well ahead of LG, which has 4.8 percent. Samsung is also king of the mobile phone space, owning 23.6 percent of the market, ahead of Nokia, which has fallen to 14.8 percent share. Gartner's research also found that feature phone sales are slowing, so we guess that it's only a matter of time before the humble candybar goes the way of the netbook.
NPD Group: iTunes owns the internet video market
We'll find out how Apple's financial fortunes are faring a bit later this afternoon, but for now, there's a report out of The NPD Group showing that Apple now dominates home digital video the way it does the digital music market. The numbers are staggering: Apple's iTunes Store had a 67 percent share of electronic sell-through (EST) for television shows in 2012. How big is that? The nearest competitor was Xbox Video with a 14 percent share of EST. The stats were also in favor of Apple for feature-length movie downloads, with the company pulling in a 65 percent share of EST. Xbox Video and Amazon Instant video weren't even close in the competition, each having a 10 percent share. While Apple's lead wasn't as incredible in the internet video-on-demand sector, iTunes still led the way with 45 percent of the market. Despite Amazon Instant Video's popularity, it has less than half of the movie rental traffic of Apple at just 18 percent. Russ Crupnick, senior VP of industry analysis at NPD, believes that Apple's early moves in the market allowed the company to dominate the digital sales and rental markets for movies and that customer satisfaction is what's keeping the numbers high. Crupnick notes, "We've seen big-name entertainment retailers lose share, and even close, as their customer satisfaction metrics faded; however, that's clearly not the case with iTunes. Customers are quite happy with the store."
Apple sells 5% of PCs world-wide, makes 45% of the profit
Talk to people who are PC fans and they'll point out that while Apple controls the smartphone market in many respects, the company still only has a small fraction of the global PC market. But as Horace Dediu at Asymco points out, any other PC maker in the world (like Dell, HP or ASUS) would kill to have Apple's share of the PC market if it meant also getting Apple's share of the profits. You see, while Apple only owns 5 percent of the world-wide PC market, they make 45 percent of the profit. As you can see from the chart above, the next largest single-player profit share of the market is Dell, which gets a measly 13 percent. As Dediu explains, "The real problem for the PC vendors is not that they have such low margins -- they've had low margins for decades. It's that the volumes which 'made up for' low margins are disappearing." Those disappearing volumes are largely due to increased sales from smartphones and tablets like the iPad. Speaking of the smartphone market, Dediu says that Apple owns a whopping 72 percent of profits across all mobile phone sales. [via Apple 2.0]
Mac sales up as iMac supply improves
Mac sales were down for the holiday 2012 quarter due to supply constraints on the new iMac models, but NPD Group data is showing that sales are up 14 percent year over year for January and February. According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, that growth is due to improved availability of the all-in-one iMacs that began shipping in November 2012. Munster believes that total global Mac sales for the March quarter will be down 5 percent year over year, but provided some positive spin in saying that there's room for "some slight upside." Munster noted that iMac sales are less impacted by cannibalization by sales of iPads, so the "vast majority of the y/y unit decline in December was likely supply." Those supply issues were apparently caused by problems with a new screen lamination processed used in the ultra-thin late 2012 iMacs.
Apple hit number two in India's smartphone market
IDC has released new numbers for India's smartphone market share and the results are very good for Apple. In Q4 2012 Apple controlled 15.2 percent of India's market, putting them in second place behind Samsung who has 38.8 percent of the market. The second place position is huge for Apple as just a quarter earlier Apple didn't even land in the top five. As noted by TechCrunch, Apple's increased market share in the country is a result of how it sells its iPhone there. As there are not yet any Apple stores in India, the only retail outlets people can buy iPhones at are through third-party retailers in the country. Apple has started working with several of these small retailers to help them distribute the iPhone as well as helping them craft amortized payment plans that lets consumers defray the upfront cost of the device. Another significant factor to Apple's Q4 India numbers is the fact that it launched the iTunes store in the country in December.
ComScore: Apple strengthens lead as top US handset maker in early 2013, Android takes a small hit
The latest numbers from ComScore show Apple strengthening its lead as the top US handset maker, with the iPhone nabbing an estimated 37.8 percent of the market as of January 2013. That's a 3.5-point boost from October of last year, putting healthy distance between Cupertino and the number-two smartphone maker, Samsung. That's not to say the Korean giant hasn't grown as well; its estimated 21.4-percent slice of the pie is up a more modest 1.9 points. Apple's growth on the hardware front naturally has implications on the software side, and indeed this is the first time Android took a hit while iOS grew. According to the survey, Google's OS still maintains a healthy 52.3 percent compared to Apple's 37.8, but it's down 1.3 points while iOS saw a small boost. Where does that leave BlackBerry, Windows Phone and the rest of the gang? Pretty far behind -- as you can see for yourself in the chart below the break.
Apple overtakes Samsung as top US mobile phone vendor
Strategy Analytics' latest mobile phone report is out, and Apple's iPhone is the winner here in the US, taking the top spot for the first time in its history. Apple displaced Samsung, which has held the title as America's most popular mobile phone brand since 2008. According to Strategy Analytics, Apple shipped 17.7 million iPhones in the quarter and grabbed a 34 percent market share. Estimates for Samsung suggest the carrier shipped 16.8 million phones for a 32.3 percent market share. LG came in third with 4.7 million units that account for 9 percent of the mobile phone market here in the US. These numbers include both smartphones and feature phones, which makes Apple's chart-topping performance that much more impressive. [Via Apple Insider]
Survey: iPhones in the hands of 18.5 percent of US smartphone users
Smartphones account for a little over half (53 percent) of all mobile phones in the US, and comScore's latest numbers show that Apple's iPhones now account for 18.5 percent of the smartphones in the hands of American mobile users. That number, from November 2012, is up 1.4 percent from three months earlier, representing the largest jump for a smartphone manufacturer. Samsung still holds the largest share of mobile subscribers at 26.9 percent, up from 25.7 percent three months earlier. Manufacturers LG, Motorola and HTC all saw small declines in share during the survey period. Apple overtook LG in the No. 2 spot on the list. In terms of mobile platforms, Android is still the king with a whopping 53.7 percent of the market. That share figure is up 1.1 percent over August 2012. Apple's iOS platform also increased in market share by 0.7 percent, ending up at a 35 percent share at the end of November. Who were the losers in terms of top smartphone platforms? RIM, Microsoft and Symbian. RIM's BlackBerry platform now accounts for only a 7.3 percent share of the smartphone market, while various Microsoft smartphone operating systems accounted for 3 percent of the market. Symbian continued its descent into oblivion, dropping 0.2 percentage points to a barely registered 0.5 percent market share. [via MacRumors]
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.
Google's Eric Schmidt focused on growing Android's share, admits it won't be 'perfectly controlled'
During a wide-ranging Bloomberg interview with Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, the executive focused for a bit on the current status of Android, while also making a few interesting comments about its future. "This is a huge platform change; this is of the scale of 20 years ago -- Microsoft versus Apple," he said. Following that, he stated that Google was "winning that war pretty clearly now," referencing the 72 percent market share figure that was tallied up by Gartner at the end of Q3 2012. And with some 1.3 million Android devices being activated each day, it's hard to argue with the sheer momentum of the thing. Beyond all that -- phrases that have been said before by bigwigs at the company in roundabout ways -- things got particularly interesting when he pivoted to talking about his plans for the operating system's future: "The core strategy is to make a bigger pie. We will end up with a not perfectly controlled and not perfectly managed bigger pie by virtue of open systems." In many ways, this touches directly on the fragmentation issue that's becoming more and more prevalent with each passing Android release. The longer the platform lives, the more people are being left behind on older builds. Without trying to read too closely betwixt the lines, it sure sounds as if Google's top priority is to get Android to as many people as possible, while letting the details -- things like percentage of Android users able to update to its latest version -- fall as they may. It's obviously a very different tactic from that taken in Cupertino, but then again, thinking differently sure hasn't hurt either of the two.
IDC: tablet shipments up 6.7 percent in Q3 2012, Apple's market share drops to 50.4 percent
Samsung may dominate Apple in smartphone market share, but the opposite is true for tablets. Third quarter figures from IDC suggest the tablet market grew by 6.7 percent during those three months, and 49.5 percent since the same period last year. Apple was responsible for over half of the 27.8 million shipments worldwide, but lost a significant amount of market share, dropping to 50.4 percent from 65.5 percent in the second quarter. IDC attributes this to consumers holding off for the iPad mini, but expects some of these procrastinators will choose Android tablets due to the relatively high entry price of $329 for the mini. Samsung was second on the leaderboard, shipping over five million tablets and increasing its market share to 18.4 percent, mainly driven by Galaxy Tab and Note 10.1 sales. Amazon and ASUS also had a solid quarter thanks to the Kindle Fires and Nexus 7, respectively, shipping around 2.5 million tablets a piece. Lenovo's presence in China meant it closed out the top five, with modest growth from the same period last year. Apple may still be the biggest player in the tablet market thanks to the iPad brand, but with the significant decline in market share this quarter, it seems IDC's predictions might slowly be coming true.
ComScore: US smartphone share leveled off in September, Android and iPhone continued their reigns
We're so used to constant flux in smartphone market share that it's a surprise when things don't move. Yet that's what we're facing today. ComScore found that the US smartphone field in September was virtually unchanged from where it was in August, even down to smaller players like Symbian and Windows Phone. Accordingly, Android still ruled the roost at 52.5 percent, while 34.3 percent were iPhone adopters. It's difficult to say whether or not the iPhone 5 had a tangible impact -- while Apple had banner sales in the last several days of September, we don't know to what extent that was offset by people holding off from buying an iPhone 4S. Overall cellphone sales showed some of that more reassuring give and take. The positions remained the same, but the US was once again a painful market to be in for anyone that isn't Apple or Samsung. Apple crept up to within a stone's throw of toppling LG at 17.5 percent to its rival's 17.7, while Samsung's successful shift to smartphones helped it keep exactly 26 percent of the mobile sphere. We're most curious to see how October shakes out: between a full month of iPhone 5 sales and the Droid RAZR HD, we may learn that the calmness of September was just a momentary illusion.
IDC: Samsung and Apple still kings of the smartphone market, Nokia loses top five spot to RIM
IDC's third quarter figures are in, complete with a few unexpected shake-ups. The entire cellphone market grew 2.4% over the same time last year, but smartphones drove the majority of that, showing growth of 45.3% and beating the analysts' expectations. Of the 179.7 million smartphones shipped, Samsung and Apple devices accounted for almost half of them, with the companies retaining their number one and two positions in the market, respectively. IDC notes that iPhone shipments didn't increase, but this is somewhat expected given the latest iteration was released only a short time before the end of the quarter. What we find particularly interesting is that Nokia was ousted from the top five smartphone players and replaced by RIM. Whether Nokia's upcoming Windows Phone 8 devices will put it back in contention remains to be seen, as does the effect BB10 and RIM's new handsets will have on the market. ZTE finished fourth in the list thanks to increased sales in North America, with HTC rounding up the top five vendors with continued uptake of its power devices. With a bunch of new handsets coming to the table and the holiday season fast approaching, look out for even more surprises in the fourth quarter numbers, due early next year.
Strategy Analytics claims Android reached 41 percent of tablets in Q3, iPad may have felt the heat
Three months can make all the difference, at least if you're drafting estimates at Strategy Analytics. Now that we know 14 million iPads shipped in the third quarter, the analyst group believes that Apple's tablet market share dropped from 68.3 percent in the spring to 56.7 percent in the summer. All of the shift is attributed to Android -- researchers think that shipments of Google-based tablets surged from 7.3 million to 10.2 million, handing the platform 41 percent of an increasingly crowded space. It's the "collective weight" of so many Android-reliant companies leaping into the market rather than any one of them pulling ahead, Strategy Analytics says. We wouldn't be shocked if a few Kindle Fire HD sales played a part. More than a few wildcards still surround the figures and their long-term impact. First is that these are estimates, not concrete results: companies like Amazon steadfastly refuse to provide shipment numbers and leave most of the final tally beyond Apple to educated guesswork. It's also an understatement to say that the market will change dramatically before 2012 is over. Between Windows 8's launch, possible Nexus 7 upgrades and two new iPads, there are a lot of pieces moving on the chessboard.
