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A third of iPhone/iPad sales came from Android switchers within Europe's 5 biggest markets in Q1

By Chris P.

Updated: May 06, 2015, 8:19 AM

A third of iPhone/iPad sales came from Android switchers within Europe's 5 biggest markets in Q1

Apple sold a record (for the quarter) 61.2 million iPhones in Q2, following a very successful iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch. So popular are the first large-screened new iPhones that markets around the globe are seeing increase in demand for them, and almost exclusively at Android's expense.

Take Europe's five largest markets (EU5) — Germany, UK, France, Spain, and Italy — iOS reached a 20.3% share of total sales there, a 1.8% increase year-on-year, according to a new study from Kantar Worldpanel. More importantly, however, 32.4% of all new Apple customers in the quarter ending March came from Android.

Years of negotiating with Chinese telecoms (and the autocratic government behind them) also wasn't for naught, as China is now Apple's largest market — ahead even of the United States — after growing its share there from 17.9% to 26.1% in the past year. The new buyers were almost exclusively from the Android camp (8% drop for Google's OS).

Another segment of the study reveals what many of us already know: Android's popularity is, in large part, owed to the diverse devices carrying it. In fact, 35% of Android buyers in Q1 said that their "... decision was driven by receiving a good price on the phone.", with another 29% citing a really good tariff/contract as a major factor behind their purchase. There's nothing inherently bad about this, though it does highlight why many Android manufacturers are unable to turn up serious profits — there just aren't any in the low- and ultra low-end markets.

Turning to Windows, the researchers note that while France saw a jump in Windows Phone-based handsets (from 8.3% to 14.1%), most other markets saw tepid performance from Microsoft's mobile OS. If the software giant delivers on its many promises with Windows 10, next year's first quarter might well be different.

While we're sure that more factors than one contributed to Apple's great sales as of late, one can't help but wonder what percentage of those were prompted by Apple's move to a bigger form factor. Judging by the Android outflow in some markets, we can speculate that it made a great deal of difference — after all, large screens have been an Android specialty for a while.

source: Kantar Worldpanel, header and thumbnail image by alvito @ DeviantArt

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Chris Panayotov is a former mobile tech reviewer of phones, tablets and wearables at PhoneArena. However, his contribution to PhoneArena content includes not just reviews, but all kinds of regular and experimental features, such as news stories, buying guides, and an exclusive column on the most notable phones out of Asia.