Android market share rising at the expense of iOS

Analytics firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) has just published data on the US mobile market revealing the market shares of the popular operating systems. Accordingly, both Google Android and Apple iOS collectively command about 98 percent of the mobile market in the US as of Q2 2017. The small 2 percent slice is made up of Windows phones and basic entry-level "dumb phones" sold at very low prices.

Android, however, has been steadily eating away at iOS from a 63 percent market share in Q2 2016 to 67 percent in Q2 2017. When looking quarter to quarter, Apple has fallen from 38 percent in Q1 2017 to 31 percent in Q2 2017 to represent a 7 percent loss to Android in a span of just three months. The sharp dip may be attributed to both the post-Holiday shopping decline and the fact that most Apple fans may be simply waiting for the inevitable iPhone 7 successor later this year. In the meantime, a handful of flagship 2017 Android smartphones have already launched to fill in the gap including the LG G6, Samsung Galaxy S8, Sony Xperia XZ Premium, and the Xiaomi Mi6.

As for the most popular smartphone brands, Samsung has been trading with Apple back and forth quarter after quarter for the top spot. This latest Q2 2017 period sees Samsung ahead of Apple at 42 percent and 31 percent, respectively, with LG far behind at 16 percent. Together, these three brands make up 89 percent of all smartphones activations with the remaining 11 percent belonging to HTC, Motorola, and "others".

Source(s)