Android sees massive growth in China, small growth in Europe, small decline in U.S. – Kantar

Android grew its market share in China by a massive 9.3 points year-on-year, reports Kantar, hitting a commanding 83.2% in the quarter ending January 2017.

Growth was slower in Europe, where it grew 1.4% to hit 74.3%. The platform saw a further fall in the USA, where it dropped 1.8 points, but remains comfortably ahead of Apple’s iOS at 56.4% of the market.

Things are getting interesting when it comes to emerging smartphone brands, says Kantar …

Nothing much is changing in the U.S., where just three brands take home more than four-fifths of all sales.

Seventy percent of the US domestic market is dominated by Apple and Samsung, and the third largest manufacturer, LG, accounted for an additional 11.1% of sales in the three months ending January 2017.

With many of the new smartphones announced at MWC not headed to the U.S. for now, this looks unlikely to change in the near future. Things may, however, be different in Europe – thanks to the re-emergence of a once-dominant feature-phone brand.

Two all new Android smartphones – the Nokia 3 and 5, plus the expanded global release of the Nokia 6 – could do well in Western Europe since loyalty to the Nokia brand name there is historically high. At the beginning of 2016, Nokia accounted for 6% of smartphones sold across the EU5, making it the fourth largest brand at the time.

Kantar believes that Nokia’s phones are particularly well-placed to compete in the mid-market range in price-sensitive countries like Spain and Italy.

Its three new Android phones are priced at €229 or less, with Android Nougat, Google Assistant, aluminium construction, and otherwise solid mid-range specs.

Three brands also dominate in Urban China: Huawei, Apple and Xiaomi. However, all three brands are seeing increasing competition from Oppo and Vivo, says Kantar.