Android smartphones outselling Apple devices despite iPhone 6 launch

Smartphones running Android outsold the iPhone in most major markets including Australia in the three months ending November 2014, despite strong market share growth for Apple off the back of the iPhone 6 launch.

The Kantar Worldpanel figures show in Apple’s strongest quarter, Android smartphones outsold the iPhone in Australia, 45% to 44.9%, with Windows claiming 8% and other platforms (including BlackBerry and Firefox OS) just 2.1%.

The situation was similar in China (80.4% on Android to 18.1% using Apple iOS), Germany (70.1% to 21.4%), Britain (49.7% to 42.5%), France (68.3% to 20.8%), Italy (68% to 17%) and Spain (85.9% to 9.7%).

In its strongest market, Apple edged out Android in Japan 42.4% to 53.8%, but fell behind in its home market, the US, 48.4% to 47.4%.

The good news for Apple was the iPhone 6 had a stronger launch than the 5S a year earlier in most markets. Compared to a year earlier, its market share was up by 9.9% points in Australia, 4.3 in the US, 12.2 in Britain, 2.2 in France, but down 15.3 in Japan.

The figures are significant given the iPhone 6 and 6Plus launched last September, meaning the figures cover their first quarter on the market and most of the period leading to the key Christmas sales period.