Apple iPhone’s Australian market share falls to around 35%, as Android establishes a clear lead in most markets except Japan

Apple’s Australian smartphone market share has fallen to around 35%, while Google’s Android is now more widely used than Apple’s iOS in every major market except Japan, according to new Kantar Worldpanel figures.

The figures, which measured the market share in the January quarter, show that Android now claims 57.7%, roughly level from a year earlier (57.9%).

Meanwhile, Apple iOS, used on the Apple iPhone, has slumped to 35.1%, down from 36% for the same quarter a year earlier.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Windows Phone has gained some local traction, with its market share increasing from 3.4% a year ago to 5.1%.

Internationally, Android has emerged as the clear market leader in most major markets.

Surprisingly, in Italy Windows Phone has overtaken Apple iOS as the second most popular smartphone platform, claiming 17% of the market to 12.6% on iOS, although both remain significantly behind Android on 67.3%.

Windows Phone is also within striking distance of iOS in Spain, where it trails 5.3% to 7.2%, although neither platform is remotely close to the 86.6% claimed by Android.

Android also remains the clear market leader in Germany (75.1%), Britain (55.2%) and France (65.2%).

Across the five EU countries (Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain) Android claims 68.5% of the market, ahead of iOS (19%) and Windows (10.1%).

Kantar Worldpanel ComTech strategic insight director Dominic Sunnebo says Android has won the battle in most European markets.

“In Europe Android continues to move towards 70% share, and the real battle now is among the Android manufacturers. Samsung is dominant, with 39.5% of sales, but this is lower compared with last year.

“Its position is being eroded by the likes of LG (6.9%), Sony (9.4%) Motorola (1.7%) and new brand Wiko (2%) which are all increasing their share of sales.”

In the US, Android now claims 54.8% of the market, up from 48.8% a year earlier, while iOS has slumped from 46.6% to 38.9%.

Android has also grown to claim 80.9% of the Chinese market (up from 72.7% a year earlier) as Apple iOS shrank (from 22.1% to 17.4%) along with Windows Phone (1.4% to 0.7%).

“Phablet sales across Europe and US have been gradually rising, but it’s China which is driving demand,” Sunnebo says.

“Interestingly, phablet ownership in China is skewed heavily to women, running counter to Europe and the US where it tends to be young, male early adopters.

“It’s too early to forecast the long-term trends for China, but in Europe where the first wave of phablet owners are now coming to upgrade, over 40% are down-sizing to a smaller device.”

Apple’s last remaining stronghold is Japan, where is claims 68.7% of the smartphone market, well ahead of Android on 30.5%.