iPhone sales are rebounding after a slowdown earlier this year in the run-up to the release of the iPhone 4S. Data released from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech show that the iPhone is doing well in the US and Australia, and especially in the UK, but is behind in the EU countries of Germany, France, and Spain.
In the 12 weeks ending November 27, which include the release of the iPhone 4S, the data indicated that with the total mobile market as base, iOS gained share in every country except Spain. (The Spanish market apparently has a preference for phones for under €50.)
When looking at just the smartphone market, Reuters reported that in the U.S, Apple’s share went up from 25% a year ago to 36% this year. In Britain, Apple’s share went up from 21% to 31% during the same period. In contrast, in France its share went from 29% last year to 20% this year, and in Germany it fell from 27% to 22%. Italy and Spain had similar declines.
Google’s Android platform had shares in these various markets from 46% to 61%, with the highest being in Germany. The Samsung Galaxy S II was the best selling handset there over the 12 weeks in the data.
In Britain, O2 claimed 36.1% of all iPhone sales and continues to lead in iPhone owners in that country. Many of these sales were from existing O2 customers upgrading from iPhone 3GS. Mobile carrier 3 also did well, with it’s smartphone market share up to 11.1%. Over the 12 weeks, 71.5% of sales were smartphones in Britain, and 47.3% of the population now owns a smartphone.
One interesting note about sales this time of year is that many are bought as gifts. Last December saw 46% of smartphone sales bought for this purpose. Blackberry was the most commonly gifted smartphone with 40% share last December and 55% of Blackberrys sold in Nov 2011 being bought as gifts.