iPhone User Base Overtakes Android in U.S.
Apple’s iPhones have overtaken Android devices to account for more than half of all smartphones used in the United States, according to data from Counterpoint Research (via Financial Times).
The active installed base of iPhones passed the 50% landmark in the quarter ending in June, while around 150 other mobile brands using Google’s Android operating system, led by Samsung and Lenovo, accounted for the rest.
The other interesting takeaway here is that iPhone usage share outperforms iPhone sales share.iPhones are simply more durable and get meaningful software updates for longer.
Previously:
- Sales of Different iPhone 13 Models
- Apple’s Q3 2022 Results
- iPhone Loyalty
- Google and the Limits of Strategy
- Apple’s Wager
Update (2022-09-03): The takeaway that I quoted above may be backwards. Counterpoint’s chart shows that iPhone’s U.S. share of sales has had multiple quarters over 50% recently, even as high as 65% in Q4 2020 and 56% in Q4 2021, yet the user base only just broke 50% for the first time. It’s possible that Apple has only been winning the smaller quarters but having lower sales over the entire year, but I haven’t seen any numbers to that effect.
iPhones made up more than half of all smartphones shipped in North America during the second quarter of 2022, according to a market research firm. This marks the third quarter in a row that more than 50% of the handsets shipped in the region came from Apple.
But there are wealthy countries like Germany and France where Android is more popular by roughly 3 to 1 margins. I suspect there is no simple answer to this, and that it comes down to nuanced but significant nation-by-nation cultural differences.
Update (2022-09-26): Michael Gartenberg:
As someone who used to do this kind of analysis, I’m amused when the press reports stuff lIke this without reporting exactly how the number was derived.
Stuff like this always made us laugh at Apple. One reason I longer do market share or forecasts
