We’ve been wondering if the good reviews of Samsung’s new flagship, the Galaxy S6 will translate to sales to help boost the previous smartphone champs. The number (at least from Kantar) are in, and it looks like they have indeed helped the OEM regain top spot in the US, becoming the third best-selling smartphone in the country, just after the iPhone 6 and Samsung’s previous flagship, the Galaxy S5. Android has also continued to regain the top spot in the US when it comes to sales, but in Europe’s big five, it’s still a no go.
The sales data from the past three months ending in May 2015 have shown that Android is still reclaiming its market share in the US, with 64.9% of sales, up 2.8 percentage points from the same period last year. However, in the big five of Europe, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, Google’s OS actually dropped 2.9% as the demand for the iPhone 6 is still increasing. In the other big market, China now has a “three-horse” race as it’s not just Apple and Huwaei anymore, but Xiaomi has also joined the party. All 3 are “within 0.5 percent share of each other” with Xiaomi and Apple getting the higher end of the market while Huawei gets the budget end.
Samsung Galaxy S6 sales has allowed the Korean OEM to grow its share of Android sales since the first full month of sales for the new flagship started. It grew from 52% three month sales ending in April to 55% in three month sales ending in May. Android’s growth in the US is not just because of Samsung though, as LG nearly doubled its Android share year over year in the US. However, other tier-one brands like HTC and Motorola lost points, which will eventually pave the way for other players like Sony and Huawei to make an impact in the Android US market as well.
While the US and European market are still the most important for a lot of the brands right now, according to Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, China is now the “most interesting market” in terms of mobile. This is not just because you can make a lot of sales in the world’s most populous nation, but it is also an “incubator” for some of the brands who will eventually get more popular globally.
VIA: Kantar
