The Fourth of July did not bring much good news for the smartphone vendors in the United States of America. As against the popular belief, there is still room for the smartphone vendors to expand their business in the US, provided they catch the right buyers. The US population is 318 million, out of which only 169 million people have a smartphone, reports ComScore. The smartphone penetration against the population has just crossed the 50% mark, leaving a huge opportunity for the vendors. In addition to the first time buyers, OEMs can target the people switching or upgrading from one smartphone to another. On an average, Americans hold on to their smartphones for a period of 21 months to 24 months.
In the latest figures of the three months ended on May 2014, 70% of mobile phone users are using smartphone in the US. Among all the OEMs, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was ranked the topmost smartphone vendor with 41.9% market share, while in the platform segment Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) owned Android led the market by capturing more than half of the smartphone OS market. In app usage section, Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) app remained intact on the top position with the greatest reach of 76%.
Growth of Android and Windows Phone OS Stagnating in US
Android is not only the leading smartphone OS globally but also in the US, though its subscriber share has declined marginally to 52.1% in the three months ended on May 2014 from 52.4% for the same period in 2013. According to another report, the sales share of Android in the US smartphone market stood at 61.9% in the three months ended on May 2014. However, when compared to the previous three months ended on February 28, 2014, Android OS did not record any change in its subscriber market share in the quarter ended on May 31, 2014. Apple came in second with 70.88 million subscribers that resulted in 41.9% of smartphone subscribers share in the three months ended on May 31, 2014.
Predictably, the share of Blackberry OS and Symbian went down, both year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter. Both the OS failed to capture a sizable number of subscribers. However, despite of introducing the all-new Lumia series smartphones, Windows Phone OS failed to register any growth in its subscriber base. Its market share went down to 3.4% in the three months ended on May 2014 from 4.8% in the quarter ended on May 2013.
The increasing saturation of smartphone market in the US is the cause of a worry as this signifies that the majority of users are not the first-time buyers responsible for new market development. These are the people who are switching between smartphones. The other important aspect worth noting here is that consumers are not switching between the platforms; they are continuing with the same OS while switching to a new smartphone.
Apple Leads the Smartphone Market but Samsung Catching Up Fast
Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KRX:005930) are the only companies to record positive yearly and quarterly growth in the US. Their smartphone market share went up to 41.9% and 27.8%, respectively in the three months ended on May 2014. Samsung recorded a growth of almost 5% point over the year, which is more than the combined growth of all the companies but Apple. In spite of dealing aggressively in the Android segment and launching devices that are value-for-money, LG Electronics Inc (KRX:066570), HTC Corp (TPE:2498) and Motorola had failed to capture any sizeable market share. The three companies did not secure even one-fifth of the market, combined, during the three months ended on May 2014.
Apple is the leading smartphone vendor in the homeland and chances are high that the company will record an explosive growth in the US smartphone market after the launch of iPhone 6. The next two quarters may be good for the iPhone maker as it might be able to poach 35% Android users who are willing to ditch their the platform for the larger iPhone 6.
The Top-5 Apps Remain the Same
The desire to stay connected remains strong among the smartphone users in the US as the social networking app Facebook reached the maximum audience followed by Google Play and YouTube. The increasing demand of videos is making YouTube reach out to the maximum audience. The list of top-15 apps remains the same more or less as compared to the three months ended on February 28 this year, a minor swapping in the ranks is visible though. The majority of apps in the top-15 list belong to utility and entertainment category. Since the users have an upper limit to the usage of apps, this is not likely to change in the coming months.
The US smartphone market has been unchanging for many reasons. The disinterest among the users to switch between the platforms is one of the reasons. US is a developed country and the users are not swayed by the cost of smartphones. They invest more in the premium brands and premium smartphones.
msuozzi1 Wat?
robertbt msuozz Read RattyXXX.
I could not have said it better.
robertbt Robert, see my earlier answer to you above for my response to just one of the details here. Context is everything. You cannot do what is done here and call a snapshot of what happened as fact when other forces are in play.Â
We’re not asking you to laugh, were asking you to take off your blinkers and see what is actually happening. Certain news sites, this one especially is doing the old trick of using Apple to garner hits by massaging the details to present biased information.Â
Android growth is meaningless when you realize that every other company that isn’t Apple has Android devices. Android growth is especially meaningless when you realize only one company is making money in it, Samsung, and the rest are scraping by or making losses. Despite some excellent devices from certain companies Samsung’s marketing budget and giving a top tier phone away for everyone purchased means that excellent Android devices get swamped out and eventually the buyer is left with bland phones.Â
But I digress. Samsung’s top end strategy is going to fail this year and the bottom end is going to be nuked by the cheap China stuff that will flood the market in the same way Samsung has.
PhonePhanatic1 Here’s what is bliss, visiting a site that churns out fabricated news and smiling at every post that knocks Apple. and you say we don’t do research? This is not research and the headline does not match the information contained in the article.Â
Which part of “every other company using android” against one company which is still doing significantly well don’t you comprehend?
robertbtÂ
” Never thought Apple users are so dump that they can’t read the reality. !!!”
We may be dumb, but at least we can use the right English words in the correct way. Which means if Apple users are so “dump” where does that leave you robertbt?
Here’s the thing. Dazeinfo releases 2-3 anti Apple articles a day. All of which contain “facts” of dubious quality and have nothing to support them.
Let’s go for one of the subheading here, shall we? “Apple Leads the Smartphone Market but Samsung Catching Up Fast” I wonder what happened in the period leading up to may 2014? Oh yes, that was the release of the Galaxy S5 in the US so of course Samsung would tick while Apple tocked. But let us consider certain things. Firstly Samsung had the devices on buy one get one free from day one so yes, they shipped product. But notice that Apple also grew in the period with a six month old bevy of smartphones. And here’s the thing. Despite Samsung’s “growth” they lost money the year on year revenue falling significantly. This is their leading smartphone they should be minting it in. But they clearly are not doing so.
jgpmolloy Never thought Apple users are so dump that they can’t read the reality. !!!
I am feeling that Apple fanboys are blessed with no-brain tubes or it’s wasted due to excessive use of the Apple iPhone near the ear. msuozz What make you feel each and every report that criticizes Apple or talks about Android growth is telling lies or incorrect and?
I fail to laugh when I see an unmatured attitude of Apple users who are ‘claimed’ to be more mature than another. Anyways, the reality is exposed.
The truth hurts, right, fanbois?
But yes, you can do as msouzzi and jgpmolloy do and ignore anything that contradicts your utopian view of Apple, and never do any research or read up about things. Ignorance is bliss.
They have not overtaken I-OS. All they have done is shipped lots of unsold product to a poor customer base that even if they buy it don’t know how to use it; even if they had the money to spend
Strange web site this just churning out anti-Apple nonsense on a daily basis.Â
Android is a vast collection of manufacturers, while Apple is a single entity.Â
If “Android Beats iOS in the US” how come it has taken so long?
More lies.
Samsung is catching nothing but bankruptcy court.
Android can sell and subscribe all they want but he fact is their user base is to ignorant & poor to matter.
AAP owns internet traffic, e-commerce and online profit.
Any other spin is a lie.