New in OS X: Get MacRumors Push Notifications on your Mac

Resubscribe Now Close

U.S. iPhone Sales Overtake Android Sales by Slim Margin in Q4 2014 with iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Launch

Wednesday February 4, 2015 1:13 am PST by Richard Padilla
For the first time since 2012, sales of Apple's iPhone overtook sales of Android devices by a slight margin during the October to December 2014 period in the United States, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel (via TechCrunch). Apple's iPhone took a 47.7% sales share of the U.S. smartphone market while Android accounted for 47.6%, with Windows Phone accounting for 3.8% of sales.
kantarwpdec20142
In the US, Apple iOS overtook Android for the first time since this time in 2012, albeit by the slimmest 0.1% margin," reported Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. “While the success of the iPhone 6 and 6Plus 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 both contract and pre-pay Apple was able to take advantage of a weaker Android offering at the premium end of the market.
Kantar also notes that the iPhone 6 was the best selling smartphone in the United States, and that the iPhone's market share rose 6.2% in Europe during the holiday quarter. By comparison, Android's share declined 3.8% overall in Europe, as Italy was the only country to experience market share growth. In China, Apple grew 2.2% to claim a 21.5% market share, with the growth attributed to the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

During the company's earnings call last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus brought more Android switchers and new customers than prior models. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sold a record 74.5 million units during the holiday quarter, with a 46% growth when compared to last year and Apple's launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c.

Tag: techcrunch.com
[ 79 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
newagemac
54 months ago
That's absolutely crazy numbers for a single manufacturer compared to everybody else combined. I guess when you make great products and back it up with awesome support, people will keep coming back. No matter what all the trolls on this forum try and say. You'll see them posting below doing damage control, just laugh and move on...
Rating: 24 Votes
Avatar
ebouwman
54 months ago
Pretty surprising...

As long as Apple and Android are about equal in sales I think I'll be happy. I don't want to see Apple fail but I also don't want to see android get crushed. I don't want to bring up the competition thing... but android really does help push innovation in the market.
Rating: 8 Votes
Avatar
thekeyring
54 months ago
Looks like a cheap phone wasn't the answer, after all.
Rating: 7 Votes
Avatar
fmaxwell
54 months ago

And Steve Jobs said that 3.5" was the perfect screen size :rolleyes:


I see no evidence that he was wrong.

That there is a strong market for stupid-big screens is not evidence that such screens are better than 3.5" screens -- just as the popularity of 48 oz. Coke Big Gulps at 7/11 is not evidence that 8 and 12 oz. servings of Coca Cola are too small.
Rating: 6 Votes
Avatar
OllyW
54 months ago
That a big leap for the iPhone in the UK.
Rating: 5 Votes
Avatar
Macist
54 months ago
It's almost as if people were just waiting to buy the bigger iPhones Apple said they didn't want.
Rating: 5 Votes
Avatar
mdelvecchio
54 months ago

And Steve Jobs said that 3.5" was the perfect screen size :rolleyes:


You do realize that was in context of the time right? Pre retina was much lower res. and since he, you know, died, he can't really amend his stated opinions. Crazy, huh.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
samcraig
54 months ago

That's absolutely crazy numbers for a single manufacturer compared to everybody else combined. I guess when you make great products and back it up with awesome support, people will keep coming back. No matter what all the trolls on this forum try and say. You'll see them posting below doing damage control, just laugh and move on...


Looks like a cheap phone wasn't the answer, after all.


Well it looks like (to me) that Apple was able to retain current customers and attracts new ones based on a few factors - one of the biggest being the larger screen. For many (enough) - this was a reason to jump to an Android device. And for those on the fence as to which to buy, made the "battle ground" more even.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
69Mustang
54 months ago

That's absolutely crazy numbers for a single manufacturer compared to everybody else combined. I guess when you make great products and back it up with awesome support, people will keep coming back. No matter what all the trolls on this forum try and say. You'll see them posting below doing damage control, just laugh and move on...


Do you wake up angry?:) Trolls, really? A difference in opinion on interpreting data = troll. Got it. I can come up with a completely different read of the data that will be equally as valid as yours, all the while being an opposing opinion. I can even do it without being derogatory.;)

Smile man. Go hug somebody.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
fmaxwell
54 months ago

It's not surprising that iPhone 6 series sales are so strong, after all Apple deprived us of modern sized displays for nearly three years. Therefore the pent up demand was huge.


Big displays are not "modern sized displays." They are simply comically big, appealing to people who are trying to compensate for something else by having an oversized phone.
Rating: 3 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]