Apple starts 2014 with 41.6% US smartphone share, Samsung at 26.7%; BlackBery...

http://www.freshtechapps.com/comscore-apple-starts-2014-with-41-6-us-smartphone-share-samsung-at-26-7-blackberry-falls-below-windows-phone/

by kumartech • 12 years ago

24 46 12 years ago

freshtechapps.com

Apple has continued its dominance in the start of 2014 being as the top smartphone as of first month of this year with 41.6 percent share.

samstave2• 12 years ago

I have an iphone 4 on Sprint with IOS7 -- I am about to become homicidal on whomever approved this abhorrent combo of clusterfuck.

Ive better watch his back!

dave1010uk• 12 years ago

Wow, I never knew how different the US was to the rest of the world with smartphone market share. Gartner says [0] that Apple has just 12% worldwide, whereas Samsung has 32%. Android as a whole is at an incredible 82%.

[0] http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2623415

samstave2• 12 years ago

Welcome to the world of propaganda.

blumkvist• 12 years ago

Welcome to the world of cheap (hidden cost) iphones.

FTFY.

hawkharris• 12 years ago

After transitioning from an iPhone to a (Samsung) Android, the iPhone screen seems so small that it's like a toy. My friends who have switched had the same experience.

I don't want to start an iOS-Android flame war because iPhones are great in many ways and both sets of devices have their pros / cons. But IMHO Apple should continue to invest in bigger and better displays if it expects to compete effectively with Samsung.

hayksaakian• 12 years ago

Conversely, when I use my father's iPhone, it fits really well in my hands.

Its pretty well known that apple does user testing with children, and by designing a product that all ages can use they reserve a place in the mind of the next generation of smartphone users.

leobelle• 12 years ago

by designing a product that all ages can use they reserve a place in the mind of the next generation of smartphone users.

It's nice they make user friendly phones, but I don't think your logic works out like that.

Zak2• 12 years ago

To provide a counter-anecdote, I really wish there was a flagship-class Android device the size of current iPhones. My Nexus 5 is difficult for me to use one-handed and makes itself known in my pocket more than I'd like.

Sony's Z1 Compact is close in screen size, but its external dimensions are nearly identical to the Moto X, which has a 4.7" screen.

rttlesnke• 12 years ago

This is exactly what I want too. Pocket-sized tablets may have their advantages, but the compact size of the iPhone is more attractive to me. Make an Android flagship phone of that size, that'd be #1 on my list.

waxin• 12 years ago

then what you want is NOT a phone is a HUGE phone

i don't know about you but people carrying Samsung Galaxy phones look ridicules when using the phone (and not to mention Galaxy S V is even BIGGER than S IV)

Stratoscope• 12 years ago

I had a funny experience when I got my Galaxy Note II a year or so ago. I had a Nexus 7 that I used at home all the time for web browsing and general stuff. But the day I got the Note II was the last day I used the Nexus 7 for much of anything. There just wasn't enough of a difference to matter. I had everything on my phone and nearly the same screen size as the Nexus 7 - but in a lightweight version that fit in my pocket.

More recently, I was cleaning out a drawer and found my old Google Ion (HTC MyTouch). The screen height on that phone is just about exactly the same as the screen width on my Galaxy Note 3. (My daughter has the Note II now.)

Maybe the reason these big phones work so well for me is that I don't use them as phones much at all. They are pocket Internet tablets.

dba7dba8• 12 years ago

Maybe the reason these big phones work so well for me is that I don't use them as phones much at all. They are pocket Internet tablets.

Exactly. I try avoiding talking on the phone as much as possible. Text/email is the way I prefer. And reading/browsing is what I do most on phone. Hence bigger screen is a big plus.

I think one reason big phones took off in Europe/Asia was because much larger percentage of people use public transportation, meaning they spend an hour or more every working day sitting/standing in bus/subway. How do you use that time? Of course you read/watch/browse using your phone and bigger screen is a big plus. Talking on the phone is usually not practical.

Americans mostly have to drive which means they can't browse/watch while moving from 1 location to another.

I'm pretty sure NONE of the top Apple designers/execs commute to work in a public transportation or be driven in a limo, hence they don't understand WHY bigger screen phone is so attractive to a big chunk of users out there.

adt2bt2• 12 years ago

This is an interesting opinion to me. My background:

I had a "dumb phone" until Sept. 2012 when I bought myself an iPhone 5 as my first smartphone. I'm a large guy (6'4") and have been more than pleased with the size. It fits in my pocket perfectly; I can use one hand to do everything; I don't have any trouble with the display at all.

However, I've noticed this general trend towards bigger phones as the future. In my mind, I always thought the larger the phone, the more the hassle. Phablets look utterly ridiculous. In your opinion, what are the benefits to a larger phone? Do you game? Is text larger/easier to read? I am genuinely interested.

As another note: I have my iPhone in a case. It's not an Otter Box or anything, but when I take it out of the case occasionally it feels ridiculously lightweight and small. After a few minutes/hours, the feeling normalizes and then suddenly the case, which was perfectly fine just a few hours ago, feels quite cumbersome. Could this be a factor in your perception?

dba7dba8• 12 years ago

Larger percentage of people in Europe/Asia commute via public transportation, meaning they have more than an hour a working day where they can't do much else other than read something.

With smartphones people started reading/browsing/watching/gaming. And of course for these, bigger phone is more attractive.

They couldn't care less what they look like as long as they get the functionality they want out of the phones.

vacri• 12 years ago

Part of the problem with the iphone form factor for me is that there are these great honking useless black 'tabs' off the top and bottom of the screen. The footprint of the screen is considerably smaller than the footprint of the phone. Widen the phone a little, shorten it a little, and you get the same ratio but in a larger screen taking up a greater proportion of the footprint. So much wasted space.

rdl• 12 years ago

I like that my iPhone 5S can go in my back pocket and I can sit on it (on all but the hardest of chairs) without damaging it (in a reasonable magpul case).

jquery2• 12 years ago

Funny. I transitioned from an Android to an iPhone and marveled that it didn't feel like I was carrying a brick in my pocket anymore, and that one-handed use was SO MUCH EASISER. You're right, Apple should invest in larger displays, but iPhones should be more like their laptop line: let the consumer pick the display size.

girvo• 12 years ago

Seem I prefer my iPad mini + iPhone one-two punch combo. It means that I have a bigger device that is still small enough to carry around in my bag and nice enough to be more useful than a Laptop for anything but work related stuff, but with a small easy to use phone that I can use for actual phone tasks like calling.

I can leave my iPad at home and still be connected, and splitting my workload across two devices means my batteries both last for ages. Some prefer the convergence, and i totally get that, but I had used the original large android handsets, and now I've decided that 4-4.5" is the absolute maximum I feel comfortable with for using in one hand. If I, using two hands, I may as well use my 8" tablet with a much better screen and processor!

baddox2• 12 years ago

Interesting. Ever since I switched to an iPhone 5 from a 4S, the bigger screen feels obnoxious and less handy. To each his own, I suppose, but I don't think I will ever need or desire a screen larger than the 4S.

siculars• 12 years ago

My problem with Android vs iPhone is the inverted security model. On Android the app tells me what it is going to do and I have to take it or leave it. I end up leaving it and thus have no apps. On iPhone I can finely tune which permissions I allow an app to have. Any fix for this on the horizon? I am a fan of the more liberal app store policy on Android, read bitcoin, but not to the extent where I would allow apps to have more access than I think they should.

Zak2• 12 years ago

App Ops was available briefly and did exactly what you want. Google made it inaccessable in 4.4, claiming it was only intended for testing. It's possible to restore on a rooted device, but more sophisticated solutions are available with root.

At the moment, I use XPrivacy, which has very fine-grained control, confirm-on-use for permissions and the ability to supply fake data. As far as certain apps are concerned, I'm in Pyongyang.

codr• 12 years ago

Marketshare is one thing.. but the more interesting number is the percentage of dollars spent by consumers on each platform.

(I believe Apple also takes the crown there, by an even longer shot)

dba7dba8• 12 years ago

Apple has always been about premium product and premium margin.

Samsung (and other Asian companies) are more into market share. Charging premium price would be nice bonus but for someone playing catch up, lower price with greater marketshare makes more sense.

gtaylor• 12 years ago

As a user and a consumer, I don't care about average spend per platform. I just want a solid phone that will work reliably and stay out of my way. Market share, profit margins, market cap don't matter at all to me. I just want a decent phone at a reasonable price.

As a developer, I look at the comparatively larger number of Android phones worldwide and weigh that against average spend. A global marketshare around 80% may make the average spend thing a non-issue depending on what app you are trying to sell (and at what price, and to what demographic).

adventured• 12 years ago

Do you have the latest (reliable) numbers on that? I know it was true two years ago, but Android is now roughly seven times larger globally than iOS. Hard to believe international users are spending so little.

vidarh2• 12 years ago

Keep in mind that Android stretches much further into the low end. You can pick up an Android phone for <$40 some places. For some people it's a feature phone on steroids.

techsupporter• 12 years ago

I just wish phone manufacturers (other than the Samsung Galaxy) line would make phones with removable batteries. Having <20 hours of usage is annoying since outlets are a scarce resource in my workplace and I don't want to accidentally leave the thing sitting on the charging cable when I leave.

I commute by bus roughly 45-60 minutes each way, including walking time. A couple of spots have poor signal coverage so the phone works harder, plus I have the screen on most of the trip. Having the ability to buy larger batteries and/or more of them is a mandatory feature for my devices so I'm pretty much limited to the Galaxy series and my Lumia 520.

dba7dba8• 12 years ago

Recommend getting a 2nd charger, or even a 3rd one. It should be not too expensive since they use universal micro usb cables. Just invest a few extra bucks and don't waste time worrying about cables...

simonh• 12 years ago

For the iPhone an external battery case fixes that, but I don't know if those are available for other phones.

knappador• 12 years ago

Yeah, they might not support thunderbolt mini or whatever.

dba7dba8• 12 years ago

Iphone external battery case is 2-3 times more expensive than a replaceable battery of a galaxy phone. Yes another reason you end up spending far more when you get an iphone imo (proprietary charger, battery case, phone price...)

WildUtah• 12 years ago

We got these and the company even sponsored our Ingress tournament event.

http://www.amazon.com/10000mAh-Portable-External-Smartphones...

$40, big battery capacity, nice design, quality, and durable.

vidarh2• 12 years ago

Get an external charger. You can get at least 12000 mAh external batteries.

Otherwise, import from China. My phone is an iOcean x7 Elite bought via Aliexpress - it was cheap, high spec'ed for the most part, and you get a 3000mAh replacable battery with a new back doubling as a protective case for next to nothing (the standard battery is 2000 mAh). Pretty much all the Chinese Android phones have replaceable batteries.

I use it extensively for a 45 minute commute with the (5" full hd) screen on maximum brightness and I no longer really need to charge my phone all day.

(beware: while I love my phone, there's a general issue with GPS quality for most MTK based phones; for many there are known fixes, but they often involve "surgery" on the GPS antennae - if GPS is important for you, look into that first; my phone supposedly has an easy fix, but I haven't bothered trying)

luka-birsa3• 12 years ago

It's really hard to understand why somebody would over report Apple share. I guess it's some kind of Apple fanship. Anyways, these are the real numbers (World wide):

  Rank . Brand . . . . 2013 units . . Share . . 2012 units . . Share . . 2011 units . . Share

  1 (1)  . Samsung  . 311.4 M . . . .31.5% . . 215.0 M . . . 30.8% . . . 90.9 M . . . 18.7% 
  2 (2)  . Apple  . . . . 153.4 M . . . .15.5% . . 135.8 M . . . 19.5% . . . 93.1 M . . . 19.1%
  3 (5)  . Huawei  . . . . 52.0 M . . . . 5.3% . . 32.0 M . . . . 4.6% . . . 20.0 M . . . . 4.1%
  4 (9)  . LG  . . . . . . . 47.6M . . . . .4.8% . . 26.5 M . . . . 3.8% . . . 23.3 M . . . . 4.8%
  5 (10) . Lenovo *. . . 46.2 M . . . . 4.7% . . 24.9 M . . . . 3.6% . . . - - - . . . . . . . - - 
  6 (8) . . ZTE . . . . . .  40.0 M . . . . 4.0% . . 30.0 M . . . . 4.3%  . . 12.0 M . . . . 2.5%
  7 (6)  . Sony . . . . . . 38.4 M . . . . 3.9% . . 31.9 M . . . . 4.6% . .  26.8 M . . .   5.5%
  8 (-) . . Coolpad . . . 35.3 M . . . . 3.6% . . - - - - . . . . . . - - . . . . - - - - . . .  . . . - - 
  9 (3)  . Nokia . . . . .  30.5 M . . . . 3.1% . . 35.0 M . . . . 5.0%  . . 77.3 M . . . 15.9%
  10 (7) . HTC  . . . . . . 26.6 M . . . . 2.7% . . 31.5 M . . . . 4.5% . . 44.6 M . . .   9.2%
  Other . . . . . . . . . . 182.9 M . . . 18.5%
  TOTAL . . . . . . . . . 990.0 M . . . . . . . . . . 697.7 M  . . . . . . . . . 486.0 M
  * Note: Lenovo has purchased the Motorola business from Google. When Motorola smartphone sales are added to Lenovo, the total number is about 60 million in 2013 and 6% market share which makes Lenovo instantly the 3rd largest smartphone maker when the Motorola sale has been completed
  Source: TomiAhonen Almanac 2014
  This data may be freely used and repeated

http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2014/02/final-2...

dba7dba8• 12 years ago

And one should remember Apple spends big chunk of $ for Samsung made components. Same with others, although not to degree of Apple.

Btw, man look at Nokia. WHAT happened???

luka-birsa3• 12 years ago

Long and complex look at how Steven Elop single handendly brought down the Nokia empire: http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2013/09/the-ful...

And to think that people were cheering for his "burning-the-ships" memo and his jump to MS.

threeseed• 12 years ago

The article is about US share and you listed stats about Worldwide share.

I don't understand what your point is. Or in what way they over reported the stats.

luka-birsa3• 12 years ago

My point is that US stats mean nothing (compared to world stats) and that linked report/article is skewing perspective on who the real players are in mobile world.

frigg• 12 years ago

Remember that this is only in the US. iOS (and Apple in general) is far less popular in Europe and pretty much everywhere else.

Apple starts 2014 with 41.6% US smartphone share, Samsung at 26.7%; BlackBery...

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