Devices running Google’s Android OS now make up the largest single
segment in the smartphone markets of eight of the world’s key economies, new research suggests.
According to figures from the latest Kantar Worldpanel ComTech report seen by the Guardian, Android has performed particularly strongly in the UK over the past year, raising its share of smartphone users from one per cent to 9.2 per cent between June 2010 and June 2011.
The research also suggests that more than half of UK phone users will have migrated to smartphones within the next year.
While Android is a popular choice for people upgrading from ‘feature phones’ to smartphones, RIM’s BlackBerrys are the strongest performing in this sector, with 85 per cent of its new customers coming from non-smartphone owners
Interestingly there seems to be little movement between Andriod and Apple, with only 1.4 per cent of new Android customers coming from former iPhone users.
Dominic Sunnebo, Kantar Worldpane ComTech’s global consumer insight director, was quoted as saying: “We are yet to see any real signs of consumers switching between Android and Apple. Our data shows that Apple and Android’s customers are intensely loyal when choosing their upgrade.”
The latest news comes shortly after Nielsen found that smartphones now account for most of all new mobile purchases in the US, with 38 per cent of consumers now owning one.
Via @ IAB
