Google Inc USA, Android is back in cruise control at the top of the UK's smart mobile phone market, after the jump in sales of Apple's iPhone 4S dented its lead over Christmas in this year. New figures from Kantar World panel ComTech covering the 12 weeks to 19 February 2012 indicate that phones running Android comprised 48.5% of smart mobile phone sold, as the proportion of smart mobile phone in the overall mobile phone sales mix rose to 73.2%. But the smart mobile phone sector is in ferment, with the company's “sales” data showing that just over half (51.6%) of people who bought a smart mobile phone in that period already owned one – so less than half were bought by feature mobile phone users moving up to the new technology platform. Moreover, switching between platforms such as google Android, Black Berry - maker RIM, Symbian and Apple's iOS is common: just over half (54.1%) of smart mobile phone owners who bought a new device changed platform. Most of those who changed shifted away from Nokia's Symbian, either to google Android or iOS. RIM is also seeing an outflow of upgraders, who are shifting to the same two platforms. Among those upgrading from feature phones, the biggest flow is to google Android, with almost equal shifts to iOS and RIM. But Dominic Sunnebo, the global consumer insight director at Kantar ComTech, said that google Android may have hit a ceiling.
"We've seen it stay around the sales 45%-50% mark for the past few months, but there's no sign of it going above that," he told the Guardian in the UK. He thinks that the easy pickings to be had from previous smart mobile phone owners who moved away from Nokia's Symbian platform – "which has essentially vanished from the mobile market" – means that in the future, the struggle for market share will be much more competitive. Apple's phone share of sales, having risen to 34% in the 12 weeks to 26 December year 2011, fell back to 28.7% – although that is higher than the 22.7% it made up over the same period in year 2011, when both google Android and RIM's BlackBerry platform were ahead of it. RIM's share rose slightly compared to the 12-week December period in year, from 16.1% to 17.1%. Together those three platforms comprised 94.3% of smart mobile phone sales. The figures do not include sales to businesses In UK, and so probably understate sales for RIM, said Sunnebo. Overall, the company estimates that 51.3% of the British population now owns a smart mobile phone. Kantar ComTech compiles its data from a world wide panel of 87,000 people – 15,000 in the UK – balanced according to country population, who are polled regularly on the mobile phone devices they use.
"We've seen it stay around the sales 45%-50% mark for the past few months, but there's no sign of it going above that," he told the Guardian in the UK. He thinks that the easy pickings to be had from previous smart mobile phone owners who moved away from Nokia's Symbian platform – "which has essentially vanished from the mobile market" – means that in the future, the struggle for market share will be much more competitive. Apple's phone share of sales, having risen to 34% in the 12 weeks to 26 December year 2011, fell back to 28.7% – although that is higher than the 22.7% it made up over the same period in year 2011, when both google Android and RIM's BlackBerry platform were ahead of it. RIM's share rose slightly compared to the 12-week December period in year, from 16.1% to 17.1%. Together those three platforms comprised 94.3% of smart mobile phone sales. The figures do not include sales to businesses In UK, and so probably understate sales for RIM, said Sunnebo. Overall, the company estimates that 51.3% of the British population now owns a smart mobile phone. Kantar ComTech compiles its data from a world wide panel of 87,000 people – 15,000 in the UK – balanced according to country population, who are polled regularly on the mobile phone devices they use.
Mr.Kantar said that it saw a key shift in the UK during the 3Month period as Microsoft's Windows Phone platform out sold Symbian OS – though it only took 2.5% of mobiles sales, principally driven by Nokia's smart phone Lumia 800, which took 87% of Windows Phone sales in UK. But that means that Nokia's Symbian smart phone sales still remained ahead of its Windows based mobile Phone sales, at 2.4% of all smart mobile phone sales compared to 2.2%. But Nokia was competing with only a single Windows Phone handset, pointed out Sunnebo: "Nokia will need to expand the range quickly in order to keep up with the slew of next-generation competitor products being launched in the yearly second quarter of 2012."
Customers using smart mobile phone expressed greater satisfaction with their mobiles devices than those using feature smart mobile phones, according to the panel. On a range of 0-10 (where 10 was the highest score) smart mobile phone users' average was 7.9, against 6.9 for feature phones. Among Company brands, Apple Inc had the highest satisfaction rating, at 8.8, followed by Samsung electronic – which principally makes google Android, but also Windows OS Phone and Bada handsets – with 8.0. HTC, which makes google Android and Windows based mobile Phone devices, was third with 7.6. When people were asked whether they would stick with the same brand when upgrading mobile phone devices, Apple phone ranked top, followed by Samsung electronics and HTC phone, the survey found. Smart mobile phone users were also happier with their handsets because of the range of capabilities, including GPS mapping and streaming video facility, which have become more and more common mobile uses, according to the survey In UK. "All this helps to ingrain the smart mobile phone experience deep into consumers' daily routines, and the quality of mobile devices available means consumers have found little to complain about," Sunnebo said UK.
Mr.Kantar Com Tech surveyed people in the UK, US, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Australia. The proportion of handset sales going with google Android was highest in Spain, at 58.4%, and second-largest in Australia at 52.2%. In Germany, one of the largest smart mobile phone markets, its share was 50%. In the US, which is presently the world's largest smart mobile phone market – though expected to be passed by China later this year – google inc Android's share actually dipped compared to the same 12-week period a year ago in UK, US market, down from 55.1% to 43.4%, while Apple's phone grew from 23% to 47%. But as it covers the Christmas buying period, the leap in Apple's phone share there may indicate people upgrading to the new iPhone 4S. Between them in the market, iOS and google inc Android took 90.4% of handset sales in the US, with RIM taking just 5.7%. Windows Phone was just 1.7%, although Nokia has not yet launched any of its Lumia devices there.
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