Android dominates holiday sales, except in the U.S. and Japan

Android manufacturers, led by Samsung, held the number one spot for smartphone sales during the holidays across the world, except two key markets: the U.S. and Japan, where Apple is on top.

The latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel Comtech for the 12 weeks to December 23, 2012, show that Android maintained a stronghold in Britain, Germany, France, most European countries and Australia, with more than 50 percent of the market share, and up to 86 percent in spaces such as Spain. Android also has a 72.5 percent majority in the urban Chinese market.

However, in the U.S. and in Japan, it?s Apple?s iPhone that has more than 50 percent of the market, according to the study. In the U.S., Android?s share declined slightly to 44.2 percent, while iOS jumped year-on-year to 51.2 percent, a 6.3 percent increase. In Japan iOS has even more of the market at 66.2 percent, while Android has just over a third.

Kantar estimates that a third of all handsets bought in December were given as Christmas gifts, with the majority of recipients under 18 years old, half of whom were women. The BlackBerry 9320 was the most popular gifted handset in December, followed by the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 and Apple iPhone 4S.

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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2025903/android-dominates-holiday-sales-except-in-the-u-s-and-japan.html

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