J
Jeff Causey
Guest
Ever since HTC started to slide from the top of the Android mountain, the company has been trying to pin its future success on different versions of the HTC One with little to show for the effort. However, two companies are showing how a solid product that appeals to customers can have an impact on the market for smartphones according to Kanta Worldpanel ComTech’s latest sales figures for the three months ending February 2014. According to their analysis, the Motorola Moto G has boosted the manufacturer from owning virtually none of the market to topping 6% of sales in the U.K. in just six months. Dominic Sunnebo notes that the success of the Moto G “highlights the speed at which a quality budget phone can disrupt a market.”
Kantar Worldpanel ComTech noted in their analysis that Moto G buyers in Great Britain tended to fall within a rather specific demographic. Almost half of the buyers were between the ages of 16 and 24, 83% were male, and 40% of them make less than £20,000 ($33,271 USD) per year. Sunnebo noted that Motorola, and other manufacturers, will need to work on producing quality devices that generate positive online reviews. According to the analysis, 40% of buyers in the U.K. said they were heavily influenced by internet reviews of devices.
In Britain, sales of the Moto G came at the expense of lower end Samsung and Nokia Lumia devices. Other manufacturers producing budget phones are enjoying similar success in other markets, like Wiko in France that grabbed 8.3% market share and Xaiomi in China which is up to 18.5% market share.
At the other end of the spectrum, LG showed strength in the U.S. market led by the LG G2. Sunnebo noted the LG G2 “marks a significant change in direction for LG, now aiming squarely towards the top end of the market…User advocacy is hugely important in mobile and this is great news to help LG maintain its momentum.” Again, consumer reviews appear to be playing a significant role. The LG G2 currently has the highest rating of any handset in the market, followed closely by the iPhone 5S and the Samsung Galaxy Note III. The LG G2 has led LG to grab just over 8% of the U.S. market, putting them solidly in third place.
Finally, a few other data points were revealed by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech’s latest analysis. In the U.S., after a bump due to the release of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, Android has resumed the upward march in terms of market share, improving 3.9% compared to a year ago. Meanwhile, in Europe Android holds 68.9% of the market with Apple holding down 19.0% and Windows coming in third with 9.7%. In Great Britain, 86% of all devices sold during the past three months were smartphones.
source: Kantar Worldpanel
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