Android Takes Bite Out of Apple’s iOS China Share

The latest data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows that Android may be creeping into Apple’s OS share in China.

According to a new report that takes into account three months of data, ending in Feb. 2016, Android has increased its share in the urban China regions to 76.4 percent from 73 percent in a year’s time.

“Android showed solid growth in urban China during the three months ending Feb. 2016 due to strong sales during the period around Chinese New Year (Feb. 8). This is always a busy promotional season, and Android brands were able to take advantage,” said Lauren Guenveur, mobile analyst for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. “Up-and-coming local brands Meizu and Oppo both showed strong year-on-year growth, each capturing about 6 percent of smartphone sales.”

And that’s where the Android-Apple market share may be shifting in the region.

“For the first time since Aug. 2014, iOS share did not grow in urban China in the three months ending February,” said Tamsin Timpson, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia. “IOS declined 3.2 percentage points between Feb. 2015 and Feb. 2016. Huawei was able to recapture the top spot on the smartphone brand leader board, capturing 24.4 percent of smartphones sold in urban China, just ahead of Apple’s 22.2 percent.”

As for other regions? Well, in the U.S. market, the amount consumers are spending on smartphones is changing, and that’s causing a shift in the market share of Android versus Apple, too.

“In the U.S., the average spend on purchasing a smartphone in the three months ending February was $352. For Android buyers, that meant that roughly 69 percent of consumers reported spend under $350, while for iOS buyers, that share was 39 percent. This represents a unique opportunity for the newly launched iPhone SE, which, at a $399 price point, will likely appeal to more cost-conscious, first-time smartphone buyers, who might otherwise be more inclined to pick up an Android smartphone, and to the sizable installed base of iPhone owners who have not yet upgraded,” Guenveur said.

“With the iPhone SE going on sale last week, we will be closely tracking initial acceptance and uptake of this $399 addition to the iOS offering,” Guenveur noted. “There are also significant numbers of potential buyers, particularly in China, who may not be able to afford the high price of a flagship iPhone but may find that the iPhone SE lets them take their first step into the Apple ecosystem.”