Android slips as iPhone accounts for more than half of all smartphone sales in the US | ZDNet

It seems that Apple is using global component shortages and other industry-wide issues to its advantage and is managing to put pressure on Android.

According to data by analytics firm Kantar, Apple accounted for a hair over half of all smartphone sales in the US in the three months leading to December 2021, up 2.7 percent compared to December 2020.

Here are Kantar’s figures for a selection of countries for that period:

• U.S.: 51.0 percent (up 2.7 percent from December 2020)
• Australia: 46.0 percent (down 0.7 percent)
• Japan: 44.4 percent (down 1.5 percent)
• Great Britain: 42.0 percent (down 4.7 percent)
• Germany: 30.9 percent (up 5.6 percent)
• France: 26.7 percent (up 2.2 percent)
• China: 25.7 percent (up 9.1 percent)
• Italy: 19.0 percent (up 1.3 percent)

While there are ups and downs here, these figures overall are strong for Apple, and show just what a powerhouse the iPhone is against the entirety of the Android OEM ecosystem.

These figures suggest that Apple has hit a four-year high in China with the iPhone, which in part could be down to the company prioritizing shipments to the country in anticipation of more robust sales.

Apple forecasted strong demand in China for the iPhone 13, and it seems that the company was spot on.

It also seems that Apple is benefitting from Huawei’s woes, especially in China, which may account in part for the strong quarter.

Apple is in a strong position, and the much-anticipated launch of the next-generation iPhone SE will likely allow Apple to take more ground from Android.