The iPhone 4S may account for nearly a third of all smart phones sold in the last three months, but it's not selling too well in Europe. Since its launch in October, Apple's share of the European market has actually fallen.
Apple saw its share fall in France, Germany, Italy and Spain, as cash-strapped customers opt for cheaper handsets, Reuters reports.
"In Great Britain, the US and Australia, Apple's new iPhone continues to fly off the shelf in the run-up to Christmas," said Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, the company that carried out the research. "However, this trend is far from universal."
Apple's market share rose 11 per cent to 36 per cent in the last three months to the end of November in the US, and 10 per cent in the UK to 31 per cent. But in France it fell 9 per cent to 20 per cent, and 5 per cent in Germany to 22 per cent.
The fall is blamed on weakening economies across the continent. "The French market is showing increasing signs of price sensitivity," Sunnebo said.
Google, with its wider price range of handsets, has market shares between 46 and 61 per cent across Europe. That may explain a fair chunk of the 700,000 Android devices activated daily that Andy Rubin mentioned the other day. Android is also dominant in Germany, with 61 per cent of smart phone sales in the last three months -- the top-selling handset is the Samsung Galaxy S2. Samsung also looks set to overthrow the ban Apple tried to impose on its devices.
Is the 4S too expensive? Should Apple launch a budget version? Let us know over on our Facebook page, or below in the comments.
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Comments 17
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anonymous 23 December, 2011 12:35
Apple made this market, the iPhone made the smart phone popular, I don't think Google could have done that without the marking power of Apple, the iPhone was the vanguard to gain acceptance of the smartphone as a mainstream product that everyone should have.
But I think two thinges are going on, firstly it is a great phone, (s2) secondly the's an Apple backlash people don't like all the hype, or they want to be seen as making a shrewder more informed decision, "its not an iPhone its better than an iPhone" is a refrain heard to ignite many a pub argument.
Google and Samsung have done a great job with this product, and by clinging to the coat tails of Apples awesome Marketing they have managed to beat them at the bend. Apple may feel they have a right to be annoyed about this, but Android has them beaten long term.
anonymous 23 December, 2011 12:38
The fact of it is, the Samsung S2 is a pretty great phone. I love Iphone, have always had one. But I switched to the S2 as it was cheapre, better specced and offered freedom to customise.
The irony of it is that I ended up customising it to look like an iphone! But the difference is that I can alter every part of the appearance, tweak it's response and generally fiddle. Which is fun. I used the elements of the iphone I liked and changed that I was not so keen on.
Also the screen is great, the processing power also pretty great.
My one complaint is the damned Android app store. Where some of the developers get off thinking their useless app is worth the stupid ,oney being asked is beyond me. Also the store itself sucks, it is clunky and generally bloody annoying.
But it's a compromise I chose to make so can't complain... much.
anonymous 23 December, 2011 12:43
Of course it is too expensive, Android is by far better, more choice. Plus you are required to use Itunes which is a piece of poo.
anonymous 23 December, 2011 12:50
What's an iPhone?
anonymous 23 December, 2011 13:19
What a biased article. The headline "Europeans aren't buying the iPhone 4S" is a complete misnomer, as the article also points out that in 2 countries (France and Germany) the iPhone market share fell. However, what about the combined iOS products which includes the cheaper iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS which is now the budget iPhone. Don't forget that Android is a platform not a phone and spread across multiple manufacturers. So in most instances, Apple is by far the most popular single company (even though Android has a greater market penetration). But Apple makes the lion's share of the profits. It's like saying that Ferrari is a failure and not popular because Ford are selling more cars. The point is that iPhone and Apple is about quality, not quantity. The Apple appstore makes far more cash than the Android market, and iPhone customers spend far in the app store than the malware riddled Android store.
anonymous 23 December, 2011 13:32
Hmm, let me see, oh yeah, that'll be because it's practically a cartel here in the UK. If you want a big screen tv, there'll be someone selling it cheap. The same goes for a car, or a computer. But if you want an Apple product, there's no differentiation in the price. Anywhere. Seriously - try this out. If you were to walk down the Tottenham Court Road in London and go into any of the Electronic discount shops there and haggle, you'll get a deal off someone - but not with an Apple product. Sure they'll offer you something to sweeten the deal, maybe a discount on a case for your ipod, but not a discount on the price.
A friend of mine was involved in the trade and let slip that some retailers experience 'mysterious supply difficulties' if they try and get creative on the pricing, thereby ensuring that retailers stick to the unwritten pricing policy.
It's the same old problem here in the UK, because we're seen as a rich country, manufacturers charge more and no one is stupid enough to complain.
Peter Hudson 23 December, 2011 15:38
I have had iPhones since the beginning and I would have bought a 4S (it came out just as my contract was up). the only reason I didn't get one was the extortionate price. Not even the handset price, the cost of the contracts are way too much.
Maybe it's not so much the price, but more than, the android equivalent phones are now better value.
anonymous 23 December, 2011 19:34
Nokia made the smartphone market, not Apple. They had large compounded growth rates year after year. Apple's skill was to join the game just as the size of the market made it poised to become mainstream.
But the real visionaries in all this are ARM, who foresaw this market decades ago, and now are included in both Apple and Android handsets - which even combined are a small minority of ARM's market.
iam a wp7 23 December, 2011 20:21
The Galaxy S2 is by far the best phone available. Iam using a Dell Venue Pro and I love WP7 and would never ever turn to an iPhone or even an Android phone (although I love the s2)
Anyone who tries a Windows phone will love it, may not want one but they will enjoy using it. The same cannot be said with iOS.
People in the Uk are only buying iPhones as they are seen as a fashion statement. Most teenage girls will have an iPhone or bb. but the more tech people will go for Android
anonymous 24 December, 2011 13:09
the iphone and the contracts it comes with are far far faaaar too expensive, that's the bottom line. why retailers cant sell apple products at the price they want i dont know but perhaps someon should sue them for price fixing? ooooh yes, that would be good :)
anonymous 26 December, 2011 06:46
iPhone is too expensive and I am surprised at Apple missing an opportunity to take sales in the younger (kids) market and poorer consumer. marketing genious they are they maybe making the biggest blunder here because by not involving the
Finley Fumblemore Dale 26 December, 2011 18:52
Smart phones in my life are pointless.
A phone is ringing and texting, not he internet or Angry Birds.
anonymous 27 December, 2011 10:08
Of course iphone is expensive & Europeans are stuck with the EU crisis, lack of trust in stable jobs ect......
Jeff Roman 27 December, 2011 10:37
Europeans seem to be mainly worried about the cost, I actually got mine for free! A lot of people are jealous about it too, my new free iPhone 4S. I won it from this website... the URL is www.itemwares.com!
anonymous 27 December, 2011 14:17
I bought a SIM free iPhone 4S in October and took delivery in November. I like many of the features but the camera is not as good as my Nokia and the calculator does not do percentages. The biggest problem is the conflicts between Apple Mac and Microsoft software. I have spent many hours trying to get my calendar and contacts to sync. I have tried iTunes and iCloud without proper sucess and entries missing. It's been a nightmare and I am sending it back.
Mark Anderson 28 December, 2011 12:33
"What a biased article. The headline "Europeans aren't buying the iPhone 4S" is a complete misnomer, as the article also points out that in 2 countries (France and Germany) the iPhone market share fell."
Yeah... and as France and Germany are Europe's biggest economies it's not a misnomer is it?
anonymous 28 December, 2011 23:30
I cannot abide companies that operate in a closed and domineering manner with monopolistic tendencies. Apple is a classic example of this trying to control the market and maintain it's vast profit margins.
I can only compare apples product lines to the automotive industry. Apples products compare to mid-range vehicles that are neither powerful nor economical, but is given a more luxurious interior. The problem is that Apple is trying to command the Rolls Royce Price Tag on something that isn't worth in real terms, a quarter of the price, pushes and goad's customers into replacing product prematurely by providing upgrades that can brick (render unusable) older products and forces them to replace products almost annually.
The proof of Apples Greed is the price tag and the fact that Apple is sitting on a Cash Surplus in excess of $85Biilion.
Apple is a million times worse than microsoft, oracle, google, ibm or Ma Belle, because they are getting away with it daily.
Can you think of any other organisations that behave like Apple, I can, the only small difference here is that Apple exec's don't carry guns or do they!