The latest Kantar data shows that iOS saw year-on-year market share growth during August in seven of the nine major markets monitored by the firm, but saw a two-point fall in the UK thanks to aggressive promotions by Samsung.
U.S. market share climbed 3.7 points, from 31.3% in August 2016 to an even 35% in the same month this year. Android dropped 2.9 points in the same period …
Apple also gained share across the five largest markets in Europe, climbing by 1.2 points to hit 18.4%, but lost two points in the UK.
This follows a consistent pattern with Samsung flagships, launching with a high official price, but rapidly being discounted through promotions.
In the U.S., Kantar says that Apple maintained its usual lead at AT&T, but also approached a 50% share at Verizon, where Samsung experienced weaker sales.
While Apple was still fighting strong competition from local brands in China, it did achieve impressive growth of 4.3 points, from 13.4% last summer to 17.7% this year. The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were still the two best-selling phones in urban China, even in the run-up to the iPhone 8 launch, says Kantar.
Recent Gartner data suggested that worldwide Mac shipments were falling faster than the overall decline in the PC market, down 5.6% year-on-year against an average of 3.6%.
