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July 29, 2020
Samsung’s mid-range struggles against challengers, while Huawei sees consumer confidence dip
Apple’s device market share increased across Europe, Australia, the US and Japan in the second quarter of 2020, according to data from Kantar.
According to the analyst firm, iOS devices saw a year-on-year market share increase in the US, Japan, Australia, and every country in the so-called “EU5” (France, Germany, UK, Italy and Spain), except for Spain.
The largest increase was in Japan, where iOS market share went from 38.8 per cent to 49.7 per cent annually. In the UK, it increased from 32.5 per cent to 37.8 per cent.
Spain saw a slight dip in Apple’s market share from 10.8 per cent to 10.7 per cent, while overall Apple market share in the EU5 went from 19 per cent to 23.4 per cent.
Apple’s success in the region was driven largely by the ongoing popularity of the base iPhone 11 model, alongside the new mid-range iPhone SE.
“iOS displays strong year-on-year sales share performance in Q2 2020; the launch of iPhone SE (second generation) hits the right spot with consumers and the popularity of iPhone 11 continues,” said Kantar insight director Jennifer Chan.
Despite Apple’s China market share declining from 19.6 per cent to 16.9 per cent as Huawei devices continue to gain popularity, the iPhone 11 was the bestselling model in the country in Q2.
“Both iPhone SE and iPhone 11 interchangeably take the top one and two model seller spots in EU5, USA, Australia, and Japan,” added Chan. “Even in China, where Huawei is almost half of all smartphone sales, iPhone 11 is the number one model sold.”
Samsung struggles
Kantar also reports that Samsung’s 2019 A Series devices have been outperforming their newer versions, while in the EU5, the S20 flagship has only been a top-10 device in the UK.
Additionally, out of all of markets mentioned, Samsung’s market share only rose in the UK. However, Covid-19’s hit to consumer confidence has led to a rise in the number of consumers looking to decrease spending on their next device, which Chan believes could benefit the growth of Samsung’s A Series.
Huawei confidence
Since Huawei’s loss of Google Play Services, the vendor’s smartphone market share has diminished in every market examined except for its domestic market, where it grew five per cent annually to account for 48 per cent of all sales in the quarter.
Chan says the recent decision by the UK government to ban all Huawei equipment from its 5G infrastructure will have a knock-on effect on its smartphone sales.
“[The ban] not only creates physical barriers for the brand’s intended future launches, but also mental barriers for consumers,” she said. “Huawei’s association with being a national security concern undoubtedly will raise eyebrows; particularly with increasing publicity around data security. While not yet a top-ranking feature-specific reason for smartphone purchasing, this could change, especially with data security/privacy being heavily focused on at Apple’s developer conference.”