Android Share Growth Slows After Historic Gains Last Period

Rev: 2016-13-June-2122 EDT Media Contact: David Wright MediaBridge Public Relations® [email protected] +1-408-363-2843

Android Share Growth Slows After Historic Gains Last Period In GB, iOS Returns to Growth for First Time Since October 2015

London, June 15, 2016 – The latest smartphone OS data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech for the three months ending April 2016 shows Android continuing to make year-on-year gains across a number of regions, though that trend is slowing. In the EU5, Android accounted for 76% of smartphone sales, up 5.8 percentage points from 70.2% in the three months ending April 2015. Android share accounted for 67.6% of smartphone sales in the US and 78.8% in China.

Europe's big five markets include Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

“Android’s gains continued in several regions including the EU5, US, and China, but the rate of growth has slowed,” said Lauren Guenveur, Consumer Insight Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. “In the EU5, year-on-year growth between March 2015 and 2016 was 7.1%. For the April-to-April time frame, that number dropped to 5.8% pts. What’s more, we see only a 0.4 percentage point increase for the three months ending March 2016, up from 75.6% to 76%.”

“In Great Britain, both Android and iOS had higher market share in the three months ending April 2016. Android represented 58.5% of the market in that period, a gain of 4.1% year-on-year,” said Dominic Sunnebo, Business Unit Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Europe. “And for iOS, this term showed the first increase since October 2015, though modest at just 0.4%, from 34.7% to 35.1%. Android gains came from Windows phone owners switching, a trend that produced nearly 10% of new Android customers, while 21.8% of new iOS buyers switched from Android.”

“In Urban China, Android share rose 4.8% year-over-year, and 1.1% period-over-period, to capture 78.8% of smartphone sales in the three months ending April 2016,” noted Tamsin Timpson, Strategic Insight Director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia. “While movement from feature phones to smartphones has slowed significantly in developed markets like the US and EU5, this still makes up a significant proportion of smartphone sales in Urban China. Nearly a third of Android users during this time were purchasing their first smartphone, in contrast to iOS buyers, of whom only 14% were first- time smartphone customers.” “In the US, Android share increased 5.2%, capturing more than two-thirds of smartphone sales in the three months ending April 2016,” Guenveur added. “While growth in other parts of the world has clearly been a result of movement either from the Windows ecosystem or a feature phone, Android gains in the US are powered by repeat customers. Among those replacing their smartphone, more than nine out of ten (91.4%) of Android buyers owned a previous Android device.”

“In Europe and the US, the smartphone market is approaching saturation, and future successes for either of the two dominant ecosystems will come chiefly from drawing customers away from the other,” Guenveur continued. “With Windows phones exiting the market, this battle will only intensify. For Android- Google and iOS-Apple this will mean not only looking to new markets where smartphone penetration has not yet peaked, such as India, and Latin America, but also to new services and products.”

Recently announced services and products, like Google Assistant, Allo and Duo, the first Tango phone (Lenovo’s Phab2Pro), a revamped Apple Music, and open development on iOS Siri, Maps, and Messenger, may play a part in the OS battle.

“We will be closely following all these forms of ecosystem evolution, which will make the next year’s OS market even more thought-provoking than the last,” Guenveur said.

To view an HTML version of the summary data and an optional PDF file, please visit: www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/News/Android-Share-Growth-Slows-After-Historic-Gains-Last-Period

Smart phone OS Sales Share (%) 3 m/e Apr 3 m/e Apr % pt. 3 m/e Apr 3 m/e Apr % pt. Germany USA 15 16 Change 15 16 Change

Android 74.4 76.8 2.4 Android 62.4 67.6 5.2 iOS 17.0 15.3 -1.7 iOS 33.2 30.7 -2.5 Windows 7.5 5.9 -1.6 Windows 3.8 1.3 -2.5 Other 1.1 2 0.9 Other 0.7 0.4 -0.3

3 m/e Apr 3 m/e Apr % pt. 3 m/e Apr 3 m/e Apr % pt. GB China 15 16 Change 15 16 Change

Android 54.4 58.5 4.1 Android 74.0 78.8 4.8 iOS 34.7 35.1 0.4 iOS 24.5 20.1 -4.4 Windows 9.6 5.8 -3.8 Windows 1.0 0.7 -0.3 Other 1.3 0.6 -0.7 Other 0.6 0.4 -0.2

3 m/e Apr 3 m/e Apr % pt. 3 m/e Apr 3 m/e Apr % pt. France Australia 15 16 Change 15 16 Change

Android 68.6 74.7 6.1 Android 54.4 64 9.6 iOS 17.9 21.5 3.6 iOS 36.3 32.7 -3.6 Windows 12 3.6 -8.4 Windows 7.6 2.8 -4.8 Other 1.4 0.3 -1.1 Other 1.7 1.5 -0.2 Italy 3 m/e Apr 3 m/e Apr % pt. Japan 3 m/e Apr 3 m/e Apr % pt. 15 16 Change 15 16 Change Android 69.4 79.6 10.2 Android 51.6 55.7 4.1 iOS 15.8 13.3 -2.5 iOS 45.6 43.2 -2.4 Windows 13.3 6.4 -6.9 Windows 0.2 0.1 -0.1 Other 1.5 0.7 -0.8 Other 2.5 1 -1.5

3 m/e Apr 3 m/e Apr % pt. 3 m/e Apr 3 m/e Apr % pt. Spain EU5 15 16 Change 15 16 Change

Android 88.6 93.9 5.3 Android 70.2 76.0 5.8 iOS 8.8 5.5 -3.3 iOS 19.3 18.3 -1.0 Windows 2.5 0.6 -1.9 Windows 9.3 4.8 -4.5 Other 0.1 0 -0.1 Other 1.2 0.8 -0.3

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About Kantar Worldpanel ComTech’s Smartphone OS Market Share Data Kantar Worldpanel ComTech’s smartphone OS market share data provides the media and businesses with access to the most up-to-date sales and market share figures for the major smartphone operating systems. This information is based on research extracted from the Kantar Worldpanel ComTech global consumer panel. ComTech is the largest continuous consumer research / mobile phone tracking panel of its kind in the world, conducting over one million interviews per year in Europe alone. ComTech tracks mobile phone behavior – including phone purchases, bills/airtime, source of purchase, and usage. It also delivers additional data to promote an understanding of the drivers of share changes, and consumer insight market dynamics. All consumer data in this release excludes enterprise sales.

About Kantar Worldpanel Kantar Worldpanel is the global expert in shoppers’ behavior. Through continuous monitoring, advanced analytics, and tailored solutions, Kantar Worldpanel inspires successful decisions by brand owners, retailers, market analysts, and government organizations globally. With over 60 years’ experience, a team of 3,500, and services covering 60 countries directly or through partners, Kantar Worldpanel turns purchase behavior into competitive advantage in markets as diverse as FMCG, impulse products, fashion, baby, telecommunications and entertainment, among many others.

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About Kantar Kantar is the data investment management division of WPP, and one of the world's largest insight, information, and consultancy groups. By connecting the diverse talents of its 12 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Kantar’s 27,000 employees work across 100 countries and the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to deliver business insights from every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune 500 companies.

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