On Tuesday, a research firm disclosed data, which showed that the market share for Apple Inc.’s iPhones had been pulled down in some key regions due to the unavailability of the iPhone X in the three months ended October. In contrast, higher sales had been recorded by phones running on Google’s Android operating system. The sales of Apple’s iOS operating system are used for measuring the market share of the company in the market and the data showed that it had been 40.9 percent a year ago in the United States. However, in this quarter, it had declined to 32.9 percent.
Sales of the smartphone operating system were analyzed for the quarter ended in October not just in the US, but also in other areas. The data accumulated shows that iOS market share also slipped in some key European markets and Japan whereas Android was able to gain more share in these markets. This problem occurred for Apple mostly because its 10th anniversary edition of its iconic device, the iPhone X was launched in November rather than on September 22nd, when the company introduced its iPhone 8. The delay of longer than a month made it inevitable for Apple to see a decline in its market share as lots of people chose to wait for the new device rather than buying an iPhone 8.
There was a huge difference in sales numbers of the flagship iPhone 7 launched in 2017 as compared to those of the non-flagship iPhone 8 launched this year. The open-source platform belonging to Google, Android, is currently leading the market of mobile operating systems and is used by a large number of smartphone makers. In the quarter ended in October, Android’s share in the United States market increased to 66.2 percent from 58 percent in the same quarter a year ago. Android also increased its market share in some other countries including Britain, Japan and Germany.
Nevertheless, a bright spot for Apple Inc. was urban China as the iPhone maker saw its iOS market share rise by nearly 0.5 percent and reached 17.4 percent. As far as Android is concerned, it saw its share fall slightly in the Chinese market as it came down to 82.3 percent. While this could come as disappointing news for Apple, there is a good chance the company will be able to regain its market share in the holiday quarter as its iPhone X has hit the shelves.
The smartphone has seen a very strong demand and received positive reviews from users and critics alike. Despite the high price tag of $999, people are seen going to sell iPhone 7 and iPhone 8, and upgrading to the iPhone X rapidly, especially those who had decided to wait for the device instead of investing in the iPhone 8 or the iPhone 8 Plus. The rise in the iOS market share can be expected in the holiday quarter not just in the United States, but also other markets where Apple may have seen experienced a slow-down in its growth or a decline in market share.
