iPhone’s Market Share Drops to 12% as Android Devices Clutch 88%
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Apple’s share of the global smartphone market waned from 13.6% to 12.1% in this past quarter, as Android devices snapped up a record 88%.
The latest figures come from Strategy Analytics, a market research firm that tracked the 375 million smartphones that shipped worldwide during the three months ended in September. As a whole, the global smartphone market increased 6% year-over-year in the third quarter, marking the fastest growth rate all year.
But that rising tide failed to lift Apple’s boat, as Cupertino’s iPhone shipments slipped from 48 million to 45.5 million year-over-year due to its subpar performance in China and Africa. Android smartphone shipments, on the other hand, advanced from 298 million in Q3 2015 to 328.6 million in Q3 2016. “Android’s gain came at the expense of every major rival platform. Apple iOS lost ground to Android and dipped to 12 percent share worldwide in Q3 2016, due to a lackluster performance in China and Africa,” said Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics.
Of course, market share and shipment figures don’t tell the whole story, notably leaving out a company’s profits and sales. It’s also difficult to compare Android to iOS, since iOS is restricted to iPhones. The Android platform, on the other hand, is crowded with literally “hundreds of manufacturers”, meaning “few Android device vendors make profits”, says Woody Oh, Director at Strategy Analytics. And, shifting the focus away from device shipments to services, Apple has notably been making a killing in App Store sales, especially in markets like China.
However, the numbers do suggest that lower-end Android devices are priced more suitably for emerging markets in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, which are vast regions that have been driving growth in the global smartphone market.
