According to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel, Google's Android operating system maintained its dominance for the last quarter of 2013.
More specifically, the latest sales figures from research firm Kantar show that Android ended 2013 at the top of the operating systems for the European market, reaching a percentage of 68.6%. Apple with a percentage of 18.5%. In third place is Windows Phone, which shows significant annual growth and with a market share reaching 10.3%, i.e. maintaining a double-digit share for the third consecutive quarter.
The picture is similar at a global level, with Android maintaining its lead in 12 major markets. These include, in addition to Europe, the United States, Latin America, China and Japan. In second place is Apple, which has lost ground but maintains particularly high shares in key markets such as the United States (43.9%), the United Kingdom (29.9%) and China (19%).
At the manufacturer level, Samsung, after a series of years of rapid growth, now seems to be under pressure. More specifically, in Europe it occupies a 40.3% share, down 2.2 percentage points, while in the giant Chinese market it remained stable at 23.7%. The reasons include the rapid rise of Chinese manufacturers: Xiaomi for example, surpassed Apple and Samsung and emerged as a leading manufacturer for the Chinese market, proposing a combination of top technical features, low prices and intense online promotion through social media. It is worth noting that Xiaomi's products are available exclusively through online orders. On the contrary, Japan should be considered Apple's stronghold since the American company closed the last quarter of 2013 with a market share in smartphones that reached an impressive 68.7%. In the United States, however, Apple appears to be losing a significant 6% of its sales, while still maintaining an impressive 44% of the total market.
