Brits just can't get enough of the iPhone, it seems. New figures show sales of iOS devices climbing in the UK, growing faster than Android sales -- but our continental amis and amigos are less impressed with Apple.
Numbers from Kantar WorldPanel ComTech show that sales of iOS devices rose by 10 per cent here in the UK in the three months leading up to the end of September. Android smart phones still outsell Apple devices by a significant margin, but when the iPhone 5 hit shops Apple took a big bite out of Android's share of the market: more than a quarter of all phones sold were iPhones.
Android sales did increase, just not as much. 58 per cent of phones sold here in the UK are Android phones, buoyed by the continued success of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and its ilk.
A similar pattern appeared in the US, where iPhone sales grew by a whopping 14 per cent to take over a third of the smart phone market. But in Europe Android held its own, as two thirds of phones sold in France, Germany, Italy and Spain were Android devices.
These figures include only a week's worth of iPhone sales, but it seems the iPhone 5's early boffo business cancels out any loss of sales from customers snubbing the previous model while they waited for the new version.
Aside from the big two, RIM is still popular here in Blighty, with BlackBerry phones claiming 8.8 per cent of sales. And Windows Phone sales have doubled! But only to 4.2 per cent, so don't get too excited just yet.
Still, it's interesting that Microsoft's mobile phone platform grew at all in this time, considering it was essentially a holding period in which the lame duck Windows Phone 7 lineup stood in while we counted down to the arrival of Windows Phone 8.
Does the new iPhone deserve to be doing so well at the tills, or is Android the only way to go? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
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Comments 18
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anonymous 1 November, 2012 12:18
Got to love the misleading (well; plain wrong) title. iPhones are not selling faster than Android phones and you know it. Look at the table again and understand what all the numbers mean.
anonymous 1 November, 2012 12:21
call me an idiot but although the iphone has the greatest growth it is still trail by 30% of that found in the sale of android devices in the uk anyway.
anonymous 1 November, 2012 12:28
What is this junk? It's *growing* faster, not *selling* faster.
Posts like this remind me why I don't check CNET often at all.
Matteo Paparoni 1 November, 2012 12:36
Couldn't agree more with the posts above more, off to Techradar i go...
anonymous 1 November, 2012 12:52
Heh. "RIM".
anonymous 1 November, 2012 12:58
And if you wait a month or two for the initial sales of the iPhone 5 to tail off, iOs will fall away again!
I wonder what the stats would have shown if the 'snapshot' was taken prior to the iPhone 5 release or even a month after the release of the Galaxy S3...
These 'pick your own stats to show Apple in a good light' are very misleading!
anonymous 1 November, 2012 13:28
also that's twelve months of data, not 3. Sort it out cnet
anonymous 1 November, 2012 13:49
The larger proportion of Android phones is down to the fact that they are offered across a wide price range, from budget to high end models like the Galaxy S3.
As such, the majority of these phones being sold, or given away on contracts are of the budget to mid-priced variety.
iPhones are only available at that high end and there are no budget or mid-priced models.
As for the rest of Europe, iPhones are not as widely available as in the UK and Apple has only a token presence in larger cities, or no presence at all.
It's more a case of having no choice, rather than prefering Android.
anonymous 1 November, 2012 13:51
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........what a disingenuos story...........tabloid rubbish at its finest
new iPhone and lots of people dive in for a short period.......oh and lets highlight market penetration.....android has roughly 3 times the amount compared to Apple
print an interesting story not this rubbish......misleading to the point of lying.....almost
anonymous 1 November, 2012 15:35
apple rules.
anonymous 1 November, 2012 16:12
This story is great and reflects the truth. Rich is the best and you can all shut your stink holes.
Warm regards,
Tim Cook
Craig Barratt 1 November, 2012 17:05
Honestly, CNET you need to stop this nonsense, it's embarrassing.
anonymous 1 November, 2012 17:32
PS Rich, can you send me your address so I know where to send the cheque?
Thanks,
Tim
andydandy 1 November, 2012 18:06
Poor journalism. Terrible mathematics. What does 'Sells Faster' Mean. Do they have speedy tills in Apple Stores?
anonymous 1 November, 2012 20:47
I landed at this page through Google news as I have stopped visiting CNET because of nonsense writers like Rich and Co. I wish Google news would allow me a blacklist certain authors and give me a filtered result!
anonymous 2 November, 2012 09:19
Hmm seems a crappy claim to me - these guys get a bung?
If you assume half of phones are new each year (2 year contracts typically) then:
IOS made sales of 28 -(18/2) = 19% of the market
Android made sales of 58-(53/2) = 32.5% of the market
Android sold more phones = Headline just plain wrong.
Bad journalism - You should be ashamed of yourselves
anonymous 2 November, 2012 10:22
That growth is to be expected, especially since the iPhone 5 was released on the 21st September, just as larger growth would be expected for Android during the week following the release of the S3. Is the same data available for the week following the S3 release?
A more accurate title would be "iOS device sales growth higher than Android during the week following iPhone 5 release". Not quite as catchy though.
anonymous 2 November, 2012 12:37
I think CNET UK need to look at their editorial policy.
Compared to other tech websites (who don't shy away from giving Apple's products good reviews) their pro Apple bias is a real turn off.
This is a non news story merely designed to keep Apple on the front page of their website.