Android’s European market share breaks 70 percent; Samsung takes half of smartphone sales

New data from Kantar (via TechCrunch) shows that Android’s share in the five key European markets of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain hit 70.4 percent, climbing 9.1 points in the past year. The figures also showed that Samsung accounted for almost one in two smartphones sold in the same markets.

The latest smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, for the three months to May 2013, show that almost half of all smartphones sold in Europe are a Samsung. This uplift has helped Android to a 70.4% share across the five major European markets, up from 61.3% a year ago, and far higher than the 17.8% and 6.8% shares for iOS and Windows respectively … 

Kantar’s figures for the USA almost exactly match those published by comScore a few days ago, showing that Android’s U.S. market share climbed marginally to reach 52 percent.

Kantar suggests that Samsung’s focus in Europe may now need to shift from growth to retention, noting that it is facing particular pressure from the Sony Xperia Z, with 38 percent of buyers having switched from a Samsung handset.

Samsung now finds itself in a position where, after two years of relentless growth, it must focus on keeping its existing base of customers loyal if it is to maintain its success. As it stands, Samsung has the second highest loyalty rate in Britain (59%), but this falls well short of Apple (79%). With the competition dramatically upping their game in terms of build quality and content innovation, Samsung will have to work hard to convince its 8.8 million customers to stick with the brand.