iPhone gains on Android in U.S. smartphone activations

By

Samsung
Apple and Samsung are the only ones dominating the market.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple gained ground on its Android competition in the U.S. last quarter when it comes to smartphone activations.

The iPhone accounted for 36 percent of total smartphone activations from April to June, an increase from 30 percent from the same quarter last year. Best of all, Apple’s gains meant Samsung lost market share.

“Apple improved in part at Samsung’s expense, whose share of activations declined relative to both last quarter and last year,” said Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP in the firm’s new report. “In a quarter without any significant phone launches, Samsung had market share only equal to Apple’s. A year ago, Samsung had a considerably greater share of sales.”

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CIRP says that consumers are becoming increasingly loyal to operating systems. iOS gained share this quarter, but its share ranged from 29-39% of activations over the last six months. The firm expects Android and iOS to eventually split the market with iOS taking one-third and Android will stake out the other two-thirds.

Among phone brands, Apple and Samsung had the largest percentage of activations with 36% each. LG was the next closest with 12%.

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