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Apple’s big Q4 2014 (fiscal Q1 2015) hasn’t gone undocumented. It’s a monumental feat, and even the most diehard Apple opponents can’t deny it was an impressive performance by a company thought to be on a relative decline. But evidence that the performance was as big as we thought it was is backed up by new numbers released by Kantar that shows mobile sales market share for each region in Q4 2014.
The biggest takeaway is that Apple has finally reclaimed the sales crown in the United States. The last time they beat the collective army of Android smartphones was in the 4th quarter of 2012. There is one funny thing to note about the feat: at 47.7% for iOS vs 47.6%, the difference is a very slim margin of 0.1%.
That said, it’s still very impressive considering it’s one company up against dozens upon dozens of Android manufacturers out there, and no one knows how to squeeze the most profit out of their lineup like Apple does.
The picture is sure to head back into its previous direction in the months ahead. Apple understandably expects worsened performance this quarter (it’ll be very hard to top a quarter where you made the most revenue in the history of business), and there are many exciting Android flagships on the horizon that should get some money flowing back to the other manufacturers.
United States wasn’t the only market where Android lost to iOS. Apple took a sizable lead of more than 22% in Japan, though that’s actually 8% worse than the same period a year ago. They also beat Android in Australia by nearly 3%. Everywhere else? Well, let’s just say there’s nothing to worry about for Android on a worldwide scale with Android taking at least 9 major markets by very wide margins.
Apple can bite it… #AndroidRules
That just let’s you know there are a lot of blind hipsters out there.
or people who actually happen to like a solid product and don’t like to have to tinker around. Hate apple or not, the iphone is indeed a very solid product
Everyone, give credit where credit is due. I’m out.
HTC > All
Google > All
well…good for them :) i’ll admit when something is impressive. I’ll leave that impression at the door of just being Sales though.
People speak with their wallets. I have to guess that the larger sizes made a huge difference in peoples purchasing decisions.
I’m still not interested in iOS devices but they are more appealing to me now since they are larger in size.
I will agree with that for sure….the bigger sizes really drew me in to looking at the 6/6s….but at the end of the day, they are still packaging a nice box with nice wallpaper inside that box and telling you to live in that box. Its just how I feel about it with the lack of customization. My wife loves her iPhone….I just think they are overpriced and not good for what I like to do.
Exactly.
I would of considered the iPhone 6+ if it had 2 GB or RAM and a better camera. I had the iPhone 5S and the safari tabs ket refreshing due to lack of RAM. 8 MP camera on a phone that’s almost 1000$?
Happy with the Note 4 for now.
I had this issue when I bought the iphone 4s when it came out….it was just lacking ram and multitasking capabilities.
The 6 plus has an excellent camera. There’s a lot more to a camera than megapixels.
Iphone 6 and 6+ commonly held as #1 and #2 as far as phone cameras go, so i wouldn’t use that as an excuse, using MP as a guide for quality is not a good idea.
True but I like to be able to zoom into certain details, sometimes crop. 8mp is no good for that.
Their profits make my eyes water. It’s crazy how much money they’re stashing away, here and abroad. What the hell are they gonna do with all of it?
fund Isis? jk jk maybe buy an island and create a “mecca”? this quickly would turn into Lord of the Flies.
Jobs is dead, I wish they’d splash that cash around more charity causes. Lotta NGO’s can use that support. Jimmy Carter doesn’t have that kind of cash and he’s just about ridding the planet of guinea worm.
It can’t hurt their image.
I think they actually exceeded $50 million in donations….Google is in the hundreds of millions for 2014. I donated $236 bucks to the United Way this past year haha.
If that’s true then they’re continuing the usual minimal charity donations under Jobs. Just difficult to see how they’re the wealthiest company on the planet whilst so many NGO’s could use the help. Like cheaper drugs for folks who are in pain.
Ah, too much political chat for this arena. Sorry guys!
well….I Google’d it so that $50m mark might be exaggerated haha. Maybe I’ll use Apple’s search platform when they release it and that number might, all of the sudden, jump to $23453642352 BILLION
I think they keep saving it so they can pay out some high dividends on a bad year to thwart stock selloff, but they keep outdoing the previous year. Still though, they should still pay it out to reward the investors that got them this far.
Just like the author just said,thats all sure to change in the coming months. Im just waiting for the s6. 2015 is year of Samsung
Impressive 1 maker can basically tie Android and its 50 different manufacturers. They must be doing something right.
Name/Brand recognition and perceived image.
Right. No different than STARBUCKS which was previously mentioned.
I agree.
McDonald’s is doing a lot right, too.
LOL, just busting on ya, could’ve resisted – didn’t want to.
But yes the iphone 6 is a fine product….that cost $195 to make(aprox)…so someone is being had.
and other smartphones cost similarly in parts, but you have to take into account, labor wages, insurance, licenses, facility costs like rent, shipping, stocking, quality control, health insurance, payroll and salaries for management, designers, and coders; R&D, marketing, and advertising, and profit…
Virtually every product you buy is being sold to you for much more than what it costs to make.
It’s too much fun to repeat a tired untrue meme than actually pay attention to facts. Some ppl are just blinded by their obsessions.
Agreed, i’m ok with you not wanting an iphone, but let’s stop pretending they are the only company churning massive profits here. Also they put out a solid product in a competitive market. It’s not like they hold some sort of monopoly and are screwing customers.
are u proud of yourself? Sorry i couldn’t respond as fast as yall do. Some people have better things to do than look for next arguments on a tech site.
I know that or i wouldn’t have just came up w that # & not been versed on the topic but with that being said for one ,most consumers dont know that and are willing to pay $700+ (full retail) and its no different (&prob 70-80% of same people) than paying $5-6+ for a cup of coffee from Starbucks ONLY BECAUSE ITS STARBUCKS. Point Being- its a great phone but not as great as price reflects…Samsung makes best displays,best SOCs’ ,which is top parts (not including overhead,which rule of thumb is around 10% which entails all of that you included). So if your going to pay $650+ go with Samsung.odds are,even if u ‘hate’ samsung i bet you’ve bought something that they’ve made (thats a whole different discussion for another day)
yes but you are forgetting that a product is worth more to a consumer than just the cost of its parts. If you hate the Samsung UI than that would be a pointless purchase.
It would be like telling someone to drink something they don’t like because its cheaper, regardless of if they like the drink or not. I like Budlight, its cheaper, and it gets me drunk all the same. Some people will pay more for Sam adams. I won’t but some people will… even if it doesn’t have a higher alcohol content for more of a price.
Too many people put too much of an emphasis on “JUST BECAUSE ITS APPLE.” Yes some people do buy it just because its apple. But why is that? That’s because they are very satisfied with their apple experiences thus-far and have no reason to switch.
iOS probably have less piracy than ..what was that.. 85%?
no no, 85% is the mark-up on their phones from the manufacturing costs.
Tim Cook rubbing his hands like Birdman right now
I like how all android users can agree they refuse to use apple. Then once that’s settled they start having there own internal arguments on which android is best. I love comments.
Probably dumb people or old people
The iPhone 6 was a fine product. i actually considered going back to an iPhone for the first time since the 3gs or whatever it was. alas it was missing features that held me back. But i appreciated that 4.7 inch form factor. Androids are getting bigger every year and its getting to point (for me) where its no longer a positive. i used to swear by nexus but the N6 is crazy big. i had to jump ship. So i got a Moto X. but i fear next year my only real choices may be the iPhone 6s or an Experia compact.
BECAUSE THEY MADE AND ANDROID PHONE (HTCONEM7) CALLED IT AN IPHONE AND BOOM SHEEP SHOWED UP IN HEARDS . this only proves what we have been saying for years . how many of us got made fun of for our giant phones ???? look whos laughing now
Shut up.
So large phone was a innovation for iphone6 copying Samsung Note ..oooh the irony
Eh.. The way I look at it is there are iSheep and DroidPhans. Each one is entitled to their own opinion of what they prefer and don’t prefer. When one starts to belittle the other side or assume they are right in every way and the other side is inferior. Is fanboyism at its worst.
And that’s no good.
The real question over the last few years is when will Android outsell iOS in every market all the time. This year they barely broke through in their core market. It was only a few months earlier that Apple hit their lowest US market share for 3 years: 31% vs Android 63%. The only markets that matter to Apple in terms of share are US, UK, Japan and Australia.
That being said Apple do make good products and are a product focused company. I would hope Tony Fadell adopts Android and helps make it more of a consumer product which delights the consumer just as the Nest product does. The N5 was a great phone and better than the iPhone of its time. The N6 is an ugly, overpriced log.