OREANDA-NEWS. The latest smartphone OS data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows that iOS returned to growth in the US and EU5, accounting for 31.8% and 18.2% of smartphone sales, respectively, in the second quarter of 2016.

Europe's big five markets include Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

"In the US, iOS grew 1.3 percentage points year-over-year, accounting for 31.8% of smartphone sales in the second calendar quarter of 2016. Android accounted for 65.5% of smartphone sales, a small decline from the 66.1% of the same period a year ago," reported Lauren Guenveur, Consumer Insight Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. "Combined sales of the iPhone 6s/6s Plus totalled 15.1%, making this the top selling device in the quarter, while the Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 edge accounted for 14.1% of smartphone sales. The iPhone SE became the third best-selling phone at 5.1%, contributing to the overall growth of iOS during the period."

"In Great Britain, the iPhone SE was the top selling device in the quarter at 9.2%, followed by the iPhone 6s at 9.1%. Together they contributed to iOS growth of 3.1 percentage points to 37.2% in the second quarter of 2016," explained Dominic Sunnebo, Business Unit Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Europe. "iOS also experienced continued momentum in France, at 20.6% of smartphone sales. In Germany, iOS sales increased for the first time since the third quarter of 2015, up one percentage point to 14.2% of smartphone sales from 13.2% in the June period last year. These three markets combined, plus very slight declines in Italy and Spain, led iOS to grow across the EU5 by 0.7 percentage points. This represents the first period of increase since the three months ending November 2015."

"In contrast to the growth in the US and EU5, iOS continued to post year-over-year declines in Urban China. 17.9% of smartphone sales in the period were iOS, a drop of 1.8 percentage points from 19.7 in the second quarter of 2015. What's more, iOS share decline has also pushed Apple behind Huawei at 25.7% and Xiaomi at 18.5%," said Tamsin Timpson, Strategic Insight Director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia. "While the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus remain the top selling smartphones in the region, pressure from Huawei's Mate 8, P9, Xiaomi's RedMi Note 3 and Mi 5, and Oppo's R7 has led to increased competition in the market. With the continued supply constraints of the iPhone SE, that model was not able to make the expected impact, accounting for 2.5% of smartphone sales in the second quarter."

With strong demand for the iPhone SE throughout the second quarter, it will be interesting to track whether iOS growth will continue through the third quarter, assuming that supplies become less constrained. Anticipation for the newest iPhone, usually released in late September every year, typically means a weaker summer period for iOS. However, sales data shows that 49% of US iPhone owners and 51% of Chinese iPhone owners own an iPhone 5s or older. This represents a large opportunity to upgrade these consumers to the latest four-inch iPhone.                                                            

About Kantar Worldpanel ComTech's Smartphone OS Market Share Data
Kantar Worldpanel ComTech's smartphone OS market share data provides the media and businesses with access to the most up-to-date sales and market share figures for the major smartphone operating systems. This information is based on research extracted from the Kantar Worldpanel ComTech global consumer panel. ComTech is the largest continuous consumer research mobile phone tracking panel of its kind in the world, conducting over one million interviews per year in Europe alone. ComTech tracks mobile phone behavior - including phone purchases, bills/airtime, source of purchase, and usage. It also delivers additional data to promote an understanding of the drivers of share changes, and consumer insight market dynamics. All consumer data in this release excludes enterprise sales.

About Kantar Worldpanel
Kantar Worldpanel is the global expert in shoppers' behavior. Through continuous monitoring, advanced analytics, and tailored solutions, Kantar Worldpanel inspires successful decisions by brand owners, retailers, market analysts, and government organizations globally. With over 60 years' experience, a team of 3,500, and services covering 60 countries directly or through partners, Kantar Worldpanel turns purchase behavior into competitive advantage in markets as diverse as FMCG, impulse products, fashion, baby, telecommunications and entertainment, among many others.

Kantar Worldpanel is part of the Kantar Group, one of the world's largest insight, information, and consultancy networks. The Kantar Group is the data investment management division of WPP.

About Kantar
Kantar is the data investment management division of WPP, and one of the world's largest insight, information, and consultancy groups. By connecting the diverse talents of its 12 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Kantar's 27,000 employees work across 100 countries and the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to deliver business insights from every point of the consumer cycle. The group's services are employed by over half of the Fortune 500 companies.