More UK consumers choose Android smartphones
In the battle for supremacy between smartphone operating systems, more UK consumers chose Google Android smartphones in the past six months than those with competing operating systems, such as Apple iOS or RIM Blackberry, according to the Q3 2011 UK Smartphone Insights report from Nielsen.
Over the last six months, Android phones have accounted for a commanding 44% of acquisitions, well ahead of RIM Blackberry (25%), Apple iOS phones (18%) and Symbian (7%).
But while recent smartphone purchasers prefer Android phones, there is no clear market leader among all smartphone owners. “The momentum is with Android at the moment,” explains Nielsen European telecoms managing director David Gosen, “but to say which smartphone operating systems is ahead overall in the UK is statistically too close to call between Android and Apple iOS, with RIM and Symbian not far behind.”
The report, based on a survey of more than 1600 UK respondents, does show that Apple still has plenty of reason for cheer.
Apple iPhone owners are much more likely to be “highly satisfied” with their device (86%) than the average smartphone owner (72%). What’s more, those with Apple iOS phones have a much higher ongoing spend on mobile services – including voice and data usage – than those with Android. Just 24% of Android owners spend, on average, more than £30 a month, compared to 61% of iPhone owners. Moreover, 42% of iPhone owners pay to download apps each month, compared to just 15% of Android owners.
Nielsen’s Smartphone Insight report also analysed consumer attitudes towards different manufacturer brands.”Consumers still seem to love the Apple iPhone over any other device brand,” Gosen said. “90% of current Apple iPhone owners rate Apple as their favourite handset brand. Yet, surprisingly only 65% of RIM Blackberry owners rate RIM as their favourite brand, with 11% of these RIM owners actually rating Apple as their favourite. This speaks to the power of the Apple brand.”
“This report allows the key players in the mobile ecosystem to benchmark their performance and really understand how smartphone consumers across various demographics feel about the mobile products and services they use every day – from handset purchasing criteria to insights on operator service levels, to how much is being spent on apps and services, to how well the advertising on different networks is received.”
Note: the report is based on survey data captured in July 2011 from 1,629 UK respondents, of whom 1,002 were smartphones users.