Android attracts first time smartphone consumers with Samsung handsets

Android takes over half the the UK smartphone market for the first time

Kantar data shows that Android took 57.2 per cent of the smartphone market in the UK during a 12 week sampling period.

The latest data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows that Android’s share ranges from 49.6 per cent to 84.1 per cent in various countries around the world.

Android beat iOS, RIM and all other smartphone Operating Systems in every country that featured in the sampling period, which spanned 12 weeks ending on June 10th 2012. it took at least half of smartphone sales in Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, US and Australia.

Android saw an increase in market share in every country, apart from the US, compared to the same period in 2011. Although there was a decrease, Android still beat Apple’s iOS to the top spot with 50.2 per cent of the market.

Dominic Sunnebo, consumer insight director, explains: “We are seeing much of the Android sales growth being driven by consumers trading up from feature phones to smartphones. Android handsets currently offer an easier platform to enable these consumers to upgrade, as many first time smartphone consumers state ‘price of handset’ and ‘multimedia capabilities’ as their main reason for choosing an Android device.

"Our data shows that Android has a higher share of those consumers spending under £50 on buying their handset across the vast majority of countries we cover.”

The time of the sampling period meant that the report captured some of the Samsung Galaxy S3 surge along with the Samsung Galaxy Ace and Y, both of which are aimed at first-time smartphone owners.

Although iOS was second in every country, Android’s figures dwarfed Apple’s OS market share.

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