Mobile research: Apple leader in U.S., users change habits
A new mobile market research shows that 86% of the U.S. broadband households now also own a smartphone, according to press release from the Park Associates published on Wednesday.
In Europe, where smartphone market has matured and became highly competitive, Spain leads with ownership of smartphone with 90% of households, followed by 82% Germany, 78% in France, and 76% in the United Kingdom.
The research, dubbed "360 View: Mobility & the App Economy", confirms that Apple remained the dominant smartphone manufacturer in the United States with 40% of the market. Two Korean firms caught up: Samsung with 31%, and LG with 10% of the smartphone market share.
Worldwide, the leader is Samsung (23.7), followed by Apple (13.6%), and Chinese technology companies: Huawei's share is 7.5%, Lenovo's 5.3%, and Xiaomi's 5%. All others have 44.9% of the market pie.
Motorola, HTC and other Android original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are gaining ground in the market, with frequent launches of the new models. Android platform takes 60% of the entire market. Apple customers seem to be waiting patiently for the company's new models. Smartphone upgrades per household happen every two years, according to the research.
"Operators are pulling out all the tricks to encourage phone upgrades, said Harry Wang, director of Health & Mobile Product research at Park Associates. The once-usual two-year contract is gradually fading as new models come to market more frequently.
The "customer-centric approach" has returned to the markets thanks to T-Mobile's "un-carrier" offers, and were followed by competitors such as AT&T and Verizon.
More than 70% of smartphone users watch short streaming clips, and 40% spend more time watching longer videos. Some 36% use Wi-Fi calling, and 26% use a payment app at a retail location.
The research was published ahead of the Mobile World Congress, to be held February 22-25 in Barcelona, Spain.