iPhone accounted for 20 percent of UK smartphone sales in December

Apple’s iPhone 6 accounted for 20 percent of smartphone sales in the UK in December. This is the first time that Apple has a 42 percent share of the smartphone market, according to figures from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

The iPhone 6 was Britain’s best selling smartphone over the holidays. The iPhone 6 Plus also did well, according to Kantar, the bigger iPhone 6 Plus reached 9 percent in the fourth quarter, up from 6 percent the same quarter the previous year

The second best-selling smartphone in December was Samsung’s Galaxy S5, accounting for eight percent of smartphone sales.

With 20 percent of buyers choosing to buy the iPhone in the December period, Apple’s UK market share increased to 42 percent, a 13.1 percent year-on-year gain. While Apple was able to gain market shares, Google suffered a bit, with Android claiming 50.5 percent of the market – a 7.5 percent drop.

In the United States the company was even more successful. For the first time since 2012 Apple climbed ahead of Android in US smartphone market share. Android claimed 47.6 percent of the US market, while Apple had 47.7 percent.

Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar, commented:

“In the US, Apple iOS overtook Android for the first time since this time in 2012, albeit by the slimmest 0.1% margin.

“While the success of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus is unprecedented, this quarter’s performance also points to Apple having its strongest portfolio ever.

 

“With a range of devices available at different price points in contract and pre-pay, Apple was able to take advantage of a weaker Android offering at the premium end of the market.”

The report also revealed that Microsoft is continuing to struggle pushing its Windows Phone operating system ahead. In the UK sales of Windows Phone smartphones stalled, with Microsoft’s marketshare dropping from 9.6 percent in December 2013 to 6.6 percent in 2014.