85 per cent of devices sold in the last three months in Britain were smartphones.
Android proved to be Europe’s favourite operating system by the end of 2013 where is claimed 68.6 per cent of the market share, reports Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
Apple came in a distant second with 18.5 per cent, and Windows Phone’s year-on-year growth continued, however its European market has stuck pretty much static at 10.3 per cent for the past three months.
Samsung’s European share slipped 2.2 per cent to 40.3 per cent, and it ended its year in China with a flat 23.7 per cent.
Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, said: “it is no surprise that everyone is concentrating on high growth in China, but currently local brands are proving clear winners. In December, Xiaomi overtook both Apple and Samsung to become the top selling smartphone in China.”
Britain’s smartphone market continued to thrive, with penetration standing at 69 per cent, and 85 per cent of all devices sold in the last three months being a smartphone.
Japan proved to be big Apple fans, where it took 68.7 per cent of smartphone sales, with success being driven by its deal with the Japan based carrier NTT DoCoMo.
Apple’s share on the carrier hit 58.1 per cent in Q4 of 2013 compared to 91.7 per cent on Softbank, and 63.7 per cent on AU KDDI.
Sunnebo continued: “Apple has lost share in most countries compared with this time last year, but importantly it has held strong shares in key markets including 43.9 per cent in USA, 29.9 per cent in Great Britain and 19 per cent in China.”
The over all smartphone market grew by 44 per cent last year with around a quarter of a billion devices begin shipped in Q3 alone.

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