A new study shows that Android has overtaken the iPhone as the most-used smartphone in the UK. Among smartphones in use by consumers on a daily basis – not just sales – Android has 36.9% of the market, compared to 28.5% for Apple’s iPhone.
The survey data comes from Kantar WorldPanel ComTech and was published earlier today in The Guardian. The data covers the four week period ending on January 22nd, and shows that Android use surged past iOS to take the top spot. During the same four week period last year Android had just 20.1% of the installed base, compared to Apple’s 29.2%. In the twelve months since Android gained 16.8%, while Apple and RIM lost 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively. The biggest loser by far was Nokia’s Symbian operating system, which plummeted from 26.7% of the user base in January 2011 to just 13.1% in January 2012.
Market share data paints a similar picture. According to Kantar’s data, Android currently has nearly half of the smartphone sales market in the UK, while Apple has roughly one third. RIM’s market share has shrunk dramatically in the last twelve months in Britain, while Symbian has all but disappeared.
The data for other countries surveyed is similar. Android’s market share in Germany grew by over 25% (again, mostly at Symbian’s expense). Growth in Italy, Spain, and Australia was similarly dramatic. While Android’s market share in France also grew, it did so far more modestly than elsewhere. Only one country surveyed actually saw Android lose market share. In the U.S. the iPhone’s market share soared, at the expense of both Android and RIM.
The market share data comes from a snapshot of smartphone sales during the four week period ending on January 23rd, and is compared to a similar snapshot taken during the four week period ending on January 23rd, 2011. The study also found that over half of all phones in Britain are now smartphones.