Figures by Kantar Worldpanel Comtech (KWC) show that in Australia, iPhones accounted for 44.9pc of sales, up 5.3pc compared to the same quarter in 2015. While Android remaining the leader with its share at 52.3pc, iPhone 7 was the best selling handset. It represented 17.9pc of smartphones sold in the three months to December.
There was good news too for Samsung. Despite the problems it faced with its Note 7, the Korean manufacturer marginally increased its share of the Australian smartphone market. It was 30.4pc, up 0.9pc compared to a year ago.
This was driven by strong sales of its premium Galaxy S7 device, the second best-selling smartphone in the fourth quarter making up 8.4pc.
While Samsung has come out of the quarter looking okay, it would have expected to do better had the Note 7 reached its original expectation.
The survey also found that China branded phones were starting to gain traction in the Australian market. Huawei made up 4.1pc, ZTE 2.5pc, and Oppo accounting for 2.1pc share of smartphone sales. All three have launched new models in the Australian market since the survey was done.
In Europe’s big five markets of Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, Samsung was first, with Huawei second. In urban China, Apple couldn’t recapture first place, as Huawei continued to hold that spot, the survey found.
In the US, Apple had a great quarter, snaring almost 5pc of market share from Android. “In the US, iOS accounted for 44.4pc of smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2016, up from 39.1pc in the same period of 2015. Android took 54.4pc of sales, down 4.7pc points from 4Q 2015,” KWC says.
In the US, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were the top sellers for the holiday period, netting their highest share since their release in mid-September, and representing 28pc of smartphones sold in the fourth quarter,” Ms Guenveur says.
KWC says Samsung’s Galaxy S7 flagship device, announced at Mobile World Congress 2016, was the third best-selling phone in the fourth quarter. The company’s decision to not announce the Galaxy S8 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this month is not expected to have a large impact on sales.
