subject: Android Continues To Be The Uks Most Popular Mobile Os [print this page] The Android share of the smartphone market is now at over 50% according to market analysts. In the build up to Xmas Apple managed to acquire market share from Android after the successful launch of the iPhone 4S.
According to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech in the 12 weeks to nineteenth February 2012 saw Android penetration reach nearly 52%. The data also showed that nearly fifty percent of those that bought a smartphone previously owned one. Several owners moved from 1 platform to another with more than half who changed device also changed platform.
Analysts say that a great number of smartphone users moved away from Nokias Symbian platform which has almost disappeared from the marketplace. Research in motion managed to grow their market share to over 17% compared to the twelve weeks leading up to December.
It's now estimated that nearly 50 percent of the UK population own a smartphone.
Windows phone
Probably the most standout result is the popularity of the Windows Phone Operating system which outsold Symbian but still only accounts for under 3% of the market. The main driver of this was the popularity of the Nokia Lumia 800 which accounted for 87% of Windows Phone sales.
While the Windows Phone platform stays a small player compared to Android & iOS its still a optimistic result for Microsoft & Nokia who will have to work quickly to keep up with the iPhone & the Samsung Galaxy S2.
Consumers happy
According to the analysis owners of smartphones have never been more satisfied with their mobile handsets When asked out of ten (where 10 was the highest) how pleased they are, users gave Smartphones a rating of 7.9.
Apple topped the satisfaction table with a score of 8.8 followed by Samsung and then surprisingly Windows Phone with 8.0.
Users scored smartphones so highly due to the selection of features with GPS plus the ability to stream videos cited as the most popular functions basically because they make our day to day lives much easier and much more interactive.
Androids dominance
Kantar Worldpanel ComTech surveyed smartphone customers from the United kingdom, US, Germany, France, Italy, Spain & Australia.
Surprisingly Android phones acquired the highest market share in Spain at just under 60% followed by Australia.
In the Usa, the planets largest smartphone market Apple still continue to dominate with forty seven% market share up from 23% in comparison to a 12 months ago. The data does include the Christmas period which may also include existing iPhone owners upgrading to the 4S model & thus not representative of the market place.
It is going to be interesting to see how the popularity of the new iPad effects sales of the apple iphone as consumers seek to integrate devices.
