Android Sales Grow as iOS Sales Falter

There was a time when the word “smartphone” brought to mind Apple’s iPhones and little else, but this time seems to be long past. With other brands of cell phone manufacturers gaining traction, iOS has become less and less popular, to the point where it’s now estimated that more smartphone users in the United States use Android than iOS.

This trend is even more apparent in European countries. With over half of all European smartphones sold being from Samsung, it’s not surprising that over 70 percent of Europe’s smartphone market share is taken by Android. 


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What is surprising, however, is how many users migrated to Android in the last year. According to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Android usage in the U.K. rose nearly 5 percent from last year, while iOS usage remained fairly stagnant. Many of those new Android users were making the switch from BlackBerry, which saw its usage plummet roughly 7 percent.

Many feel that if Apple wants to make a comeback, it will have to think long and hard about new ways to innovate and recapture its users’ attention. Android phones tend to let their users have a greater degree of customization available to them, and lately Android seems to have been coming up with new ideas on how to make the smartphone experience better, moving even more ahead Apple.

Despite the fact that Apple users are by far the most loyal, with 79 percent of current users in the U.K. declaring their intention to stick with the brand, it seems as though other brands are beginning to do what looked impossible just a few years ago: overtake Apple. With the variety of phones available from different manufacturers and brands, smartphone users now have more choices than ever when looking for their next phone, and many are taking advantage of that fact and trying new things.