iPhone 6 sales to drive Apple to record quarter: report
Over the past few years Apple has watched its smartphone market share decline in the face of pressure from big, cheap Android smartphones. But the iPhone 6 could change that.
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According to data by Kantor Worldpanel, in the three months to October 31, Apple's smartphone sales grew in almost every market. In the UK specifically, the growth has been incredible. Over the past year Apple's sales share has grown 10.4 percentage points to 39.5 percent.
Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, comments:
Apple has experienced a huge jump in sales share across almost all major markets thanks to the launch of the iPhone 6. In major European economies, the US and Australia, Apple's share of sales has risen. This success is particularly evident in Great Britain where Apple now has its highest ever share of sales with 39.5 percent. Most of these sales were driven by loyal Apple users. Some 86 percent of British buyers upgraded from an older iPhone model, only 5 percent switched across from Samsung.
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The report also compiled data on reasons why consumers chose the iPhone 6:
4G capability: 51 percent
Screen size: 49 percent
Design: 45 percent
Almost a third of iPhone 6 sales in the UK were sold directly to consumers by Apple, and the iPhone 6 outsold the larger and more expensive 6 Plus by a 4 to 1 ratio.
Things were more subdued in the US, with Apple sales rising only 0.7 percent over the three month period. The iPhone 6 outsold the iPhone 6 Plus by a 3-to-1 ratio, with the report claiming that 6 Plus buyers tended to be older than iPhone 6 buyers.
Overall, iPhones made up four out of the five best-selling models over the past three months.
In China Apple saw its share grow by 0.2 percentage points to 15.7 percent during the three months ending October, and that's despite both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus only becoming available in China on October 17; the iPhone 6 went on to be China's third best selling device for the month.
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