NPD: iOS Accounted for 43% of Sales in Q4, But First-Time Smartphone Buyers Chose Android [US]
NPD have released their US smartphone figures for the fourth quarter of 2011. As you’d expect, Android didn’t give up the lead but iOS did come close to taking the crown for that quarter. They grabbed 43% of the share compared to Android’s 48%. These numbers, of course, were due largely in part to the launch of the iPhone 4S and subsequent price drops on previous versions of the phone.
First time buyers preferred Android over iOS, however, with 57% of those folks choosing the former over 34% choosing the latter. This could be explained by the great deals to be had on Android phones during the Holiday season.
Lots of feature phone owners were looking for free or cheap Android phones to ease them into the smartphone world. The general momentum Android has rolled on since its launch still deserves a lot of credit, too.
RIM, Microsoft and Symbian were all shoved into that dreaded “other” category so we can pretty much assume that they’re still largely irrelevant here in the United States.
NPD also showed an interesting stat which showed Samsung were responsible for two of the top five selling devices in the fourth quarter. The Galaxy S II and Galaxy S 4G won fourth and fifth place, respectively. As you might imagine, Apple’s phones accounted for the first three slots.Read on for NPD’s findings.
PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, February 6, 2012 – According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, Apple leaped past Samsung and LG to become the best-selling U.S. handset brand in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2011. In a quarter that featured the launch of the iPhone 4S and the addition of Sprint, Apple’s three available models combined to capture 43 percent of the U.S. smartphone market in Q4.
“Attracted by a faster processor, improved camera and the Siri speech-driven agent, most iPhone buyers paid a premium for the iPhone 4S, making it the top-selling handset in Q4,” said Ross Rubin, executive director, Connected Intelligence for The NPD Group. “The iPhone 4S outsold the iPhone 4 by 75 percent, and outsold the iPhone 3GS, available for free on AT&T, five to one.”
Together, Android and iPhone accounted for over 90 percent of smartphone sales, with Android holding on to 48 percent of the smartphone market during the quarter; however, Android devices performed better among first-time smartphone buyers. Based on the latest data from The NPD Group’s monthly Smartphone Track service, among the first-time smartphone buyers in Q4, 57 percent purchased Android phones compared to just 34 percent who purchased iPhones.
“Android has been criticized for offering a more complex user experience than its competitors, but the company’s wide carrier support and large app selection is appealing to new smartphone customers,” Rubin said. “Android’s support of LTE at Verizon has also made it the exclusive choice for customers who want to take advantage of that carrier’s fastest network.”
The overall share of mobile phone sales that are smartphones continued to climb in Q4 2011, reaching 68 percent of the total mobile phone market, which is an increase of 18 percentage points since Q4 2010. Based on the latest data from NPD’s monthly Mobile Phone Track service, average selling prices for smartphones increased eight dollars over the prior quarter, reaching $143 in Q4 2011, which is still below average price of $149 in Q4 2010. Led by continued steady sales for Apple’s iPhones, the top five best-selling mobile phone handsets in Q4 were as follows:
Apple iPhone 4S
Apple iPhone 4
Apple iPhone 3GS
Samsung GALAXY S II
Samsung GALAXY S 4GInformation in this press release is from Mobile Phone Track and Smartphone Track, both of which report on the activities of U.S. consumers, age 18 and older, who reported purchasing a mobile phone or smartphone. NPD does not track corporate/enterprise mobile phone purchases.