Apple overtakes Android to account for 50% of smartphones used in US : technology

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Milestone was handed in quarter ending in June, says Counterpoint Analysis

Apple has overtaken Android units to account for greater than half of smartphones used within the US, giving the iPhone maker an edge over its rival because it pushes into sectors together with finance and healthcare.

The 50 per cent landmark — the iPhone’s highest share because it launched in 2007 — was first handed within the quarter ending in June, based on knowledge from Counterpoint Analysis. Some 150 units utilizing Google’s Android working system, led by Samsung and Lenovo, accounted for the remainder.

“Working programs are like religions — by no means vital modifications. However over the previous 4 years the stream has constantly been Android to iOS,” stated Counterpoint’s analysis director, Jeff Fieldhack. “It is a large milestone that we might see replicated in different prosperous nations throughout the globe.”

The numbers are based mostly on smartphones in use, often called the “lively put in base”, what Apple finance chief Luca Maestri dubbed “the engine for our firm” in a July earnings name.

It is a wider and extra significant class than new cellphone shipments, which fluctuate from quarter to quarter and have already demonstrated Apple’s newfound power.

The lively put in base takes under consideration the thousands and thousands of individuals introduced into Apple’s ecosystem by way of the used cellphone market, in addition to those that use iPhones bought years in the past.

Ben Wooden, analyst at CCS Perception, stated: “It’s not that we’re seeing an enormous yr the place Apple grows its market share 10 or 15 per cent, however there’s this gradual burn the place they quietly simply seize extra share yearly.”

Android-powered smartphones first went on sale in 2008, a yr after the iPhone debuted, and overtook the iOS-installed base in 2010, based on NPD Group. Within the three earlier years, Apple by no means had something close to 50 per cent market share, as gross sales have been dominated by Nokia, Motorola, Home windows and BlackBerry.

As Apple chief govt Tim Prepare dinner prepares to unveil the iPhone 14 on Wednesday, the milestone suggests the corporate has by no means been in a extra aggressive place regardless of persistent criticism that it has misplaced its modern edge.

The group’s keynote autumn occasion lately has been far more about developments to current devices fairly than firm founder Steve Jobs’s well-known “yet another factor” product launches.