Apple just released the new that over the launch week end they sold 4M iPhones 4S handsets. That is a lot of phones.
According to Apple senior vice president for worldwide product marketing, Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, “iPhone 4S is off to a great start with more than four million sold in its first weekend—the most ever for a phone and more than double the iPhone 4 launch during its first three days. iPhone 4S is a hit with customers around the world, and together with iOS 5 and iCloud, is the best iPhone ever.”
Last year, Apple announced that it sold 1.7 million iPhone 4 units in the smartphone’s first weekend of availability. This year the iPhone is available with many more carriers than the launch last year. In the US you can pick one up from all the major cell providers: AT&T, Verizon and now Sprint.
One of the big questions is what is the split of the market for handsets in the US and how has the introduction by Verizon of the iPhone changed the playing field given that Verizon is a dominant player with the largest number of subscribers.
One recent report published by Nielsen shows Apple US market share growing over Android during the last few months. The Nielsen’s May survey reports that 38% of the US market now own smartphones compared to dumb phones. The more important message is that 55% of those who acquired a handset during the last 3 months selected a smart device.
Android continues to be the most popular smartphone operating system, with 38 percent of smartphone consumers owning Android devices. However, while Android also leads among those who recently purchased a new smartphone, it is the Apple iPhone that has shown the most growth in recent month.
The two charts tell the story.
These charts based on data from Mobile insighs show smartphone share at 55% of all devices and that iPhone has grown from 10% to 17% over the last 3 months and that Android is static at 27% but RIM has been crushed.
Maybe output is increasing as the supply of iPads shows signs of starts to catch up with demand.
This morning our local PC World had a delivery and we walked out with the last unit. We love it and the more you use it the more your start to appreciate the power and design excellence.
This is a product that just works so well, that using it is a pleasure.
See unpacking images below.
First post created on iPad with pictures from iPhone.
With the recent Nokia and Microsoft announcement it is worth spending a little tile looking at the smart phone market and the differences in vendors between US and Europe. The Smart Phone market and the share of that market is very revealing. A recent report by Comscore nicely displays the market share and a great deal of other information on users, markets and trends and the differences between US and Europe.
These two graphs shows vendor market share: The striking points are in the US – Nokia and Symbian are virtually irrelevant with a tiny market share, as have Palm and Microsoft. It also shows the rise of Android and how it has taken share away from Apple and RIM. Of course this is market share rather than units shipped.
While in Europe. Nokia have a much, much larger starting point with close to 50% of the market. That’s a huge difference. Apple has a smaller share that in the US and Android is way down. Strangely Microsoft has a larger share in Europe than its home turf.
One key point is the outlets for iPhone and Android in the states and EU are vastly different. And in some way the EU has a more level playing field as the iPhone is available from at least two carriers in every region and the droid devices are likewise available from multiple outlets. In the UK for example iPhone is available from the original launch partner O2 that has been joined by Vodafone, Orange, 3 and T Mobile. That’s pretty much the whole market. So what ever carriers you are with you have access to an iPhone. This is in stark contrast with the US where until a week or so if you wanted an iPhone you had to be or become an AT&T subscriber.
Likewise with the Android devices they are available from so many vendors it is hard to keep to keep track of the devices and carriers, sufficient to say that both are numerous. In some ways this is different from the US where the non AT&T carriers have had to push Android as a competitor to iPhone.
With Verizon now on board this will be interesting to see that happens to market share for droids. And of course if Nokia / Microsoft can make inroads into the US and retain EU market share.
2011 will be a compelling year for the mobile industry.
They have been many stories from the states about how Android is growing at a huge lick and sucking the life out of all other products, notability the BlackBerry and iPhone. So let’s take a look at the figures and add some explanation.
In the US the Apple iPhone is only available from AT&T. The other main carriers Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile do not carry the iPhone but they do offer a range of Android power devices and sundry RIM devices. This is in sharp contrast to the UK and Europe where the iPhone is available from multiple carriers per country. In the UK for example the launch partner was O2 and they have now been joined by Vodafone and Orange / T-Mobile. Same is true for all the major European territories including France and Germany.
According to recent figures from Strategy Analytics the Smart Phone market saw 78% market growth. The largest smart phone volume is held by Nokia with 26.5 million phones. Apple shipped 15.4 million devices and RIM 12.3 million.
Looking at all phones shipped shows that Apple how now reached the 4th place behind LG, Samsung and of course Nokia. As Android is shipped by a raft of vendors it is hard to produce accurate hardward numbers.
The real question will be to monitor the European market share of the Phone OS use and see the use and rate of change for of Android compared to RIM and Apple.
We happened to drop into an O2 store yesterday in St Albans and the store manager was insistent that they would have white iPhones in December. He claims this is an O2 fact, even though other sources say this is not so. We need more O2 sources. So please ask your rep and let us know if this one rumour has any legs.
The recently open Apple store in Covent Garden is massive. It covers 3 floors with two staircases – the glass spiral is of course present. The old building has been transformed from its resturant status to a Mac showcase.
This the 300 Apple store and the 28 in the UK. The inside is remarkably airy and light with a glass ceiling in places. The layout is based on products – with the first room haveing MacBooks and the inner room showing iPads. Upstairs is iPhone and iPads and the top level has accessories.
Apple recently mentioned that the store in Regent Street is the most sucessful in the world generating £2,000 per foot per year. That”s sales other retailers would die for.
Apple will open a new super large London store in Covent Garden any day now. Earlier today chairs and other Knoll products were being delivered. These items are close to the last be delivered.
This store will have a massive street presence in one of the most visited parts of London. Covent Garden is popular with both locals and tourists.
As a side note the Regent St store was packed earlier in the day.
A number of papers have reported that Vodafone will offer UK punters the chance to purchase the iPhone. This comes only a few weeks after Orange announced that it would be making iPhone available, with an expected release date in November.
This should boost competition and may even bring the price down for service plans. We say bring it on.
According to Apple senior vice president for worldwide product marketing, Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, “iPhone 4S is off to a great start with more than four million sold in its first weekend—the most ever for a phone and more than double the iPhone 4 launch during its first three days. iPhone 4S is a hit with customers around the world, and together with iOS 5 and iCloud, is the best iPhone ever.”
