Kantar Worldpanel Stats say British and Europeans love Apple iPhone 6 - China growing as Consumer Intelligence Report confirms iPhone 6 Plus unnecessary

“Apple has experienced a huge jump in sales share across almost all major markets thanks to the launch of the iPhone 6. In major European economies, the US and Australia, Apple’s share of sales has risen. This success is particularly evident in Great Britain where Apple now has its highest ever share of sales with 39.5%. Most of these sales were driven by loyal Apple users. Some 86% of British buyers upgraded from an older iPhone model, only 5% switched across from Samsung.”

Strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Dominic Sunnebo on Apple iPhone sales surge in Europe

The Apple iPhone 6 has been a sort of lucky talisman for Apple, as the Fourth Quarter of 2014 is shaping up to be their best based on the stats from Analyst Kantar WorldPanel in the article “iPhone 6 sales to drive Apple to record quarter: report”, published December 3, 2014 13:40 GMT (05:40 PST) by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, ZDNet. 

This as it’s sparking a massive rally on Apple iPhones in general, especially in Europe, according to Analyst Kantar WorldPanel in the article “iPhone 6, 6 Plus trigger spike in Apple sales worldwide”, published December 4, 2014 6:53 AM PST, by Lance Whitney, CNET News.

The stats, as per their report entitled “Huge iPhone 6 sales put Apple on course for record quarter”, published 03/12/2014, Kantar WorldPanel, paints a picture of a Europe that's in love with the Apple iPhone 6 even more than Americans!

Kantar World Panel European Stats – Apple hot in Britain,  gaining ground in the Big 5

First I’ll throw up their graphical explanation.

The Big five (5) markets in the European Union are as follows:

1.      Britain

2.      Germany

3.      France

4.      Italy

5.      Spain

First, a breakdown of percentage sales across the EU by iOS for the three (3) months to October 2014:

1.      69.4% for Google Android a fall of 2.5 percentage points over a similar period in 2013

2.      20.7% for Apple’s iOS, an increase of 5.7 percentage points over a similar period in 2013

3.      8.7% for Windows phone

These stats are very impressive when viewed in the light of the fact that the Apple iPhone didn’t launch until Friday September 19^th 2014 as I’d reported in my blog article entitled “Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus - No Sapphire Screen but 128GB Storage and NFC-powered Apple Pay in Apple's Biggest iPhone Launch”.

In one specific market, Great Britain the affect the Apple iPhone 6 was even more spectacular during the three (3) months to October 2014:

1.      39.5% for Apple’s iOS, an increase of 10.8 percentage points over a similar period in 2013

2.      34% were 16-24 year olds

3.      64% were males

4.      31% of Apple iPhone 6 sales sold directly through Apple’s retail offer

Typical British, their reason this time around for buying an Apple iPhone 6 was mainly due to the Mobile 4G LTE Internet:

1.      51% brought the Apple iPhone 6 for 4G capability

2.      49% for Screen Size

3.      45% Design

Even more interesting fact about the British buyers proves that this Apple iPhone 6 is also a Google Android Whisperer, wooing many from that OS to Apple’s wonderful Walled Garden experience:

1.      86% of British buyers upgraded from an older iPhone model

2.      5% of British buyers were switching from the Samsung

Like the Apple iPhone 5C in 2013 as described in my blog article entitled “Kantar WorldpanelComTech Stats suggests that the Apple iPhone 5C is a Google Android smartphone whisperer – US$100 cheaper is still a Deal for the 38 year old Crowd”, the Apple iPhone 6 is ALSO a Google Android whisperer.

This trend has continued onwards into 2014, with Apple at the Launch of the Apple iPhone 6 placing the 8GB Apple iPhone 5C on a US$0 contract as noted in my blog article entitled “8GB Apple iPhone 5C on US$0 Contract - Why the iOS 8 upgradable US449 Apple iPhone 5C is a Jamaican Google Android Whisperer”.

Odd stat to note from Kantar WorldPanel Stats; the 4.7" Apple iPhone 6 outsold the bigger 5.5" Apple iPhone 6 by a 4:1 ratio, suggesting that a bigger smartphone wasn't necessary at all.

Chinese market marked for growth - Xiaomi Redmi still dominant as the Price is Right

In China, Apple is slowly making headway thanks to the Apple iPhone 6 for the three (3) months to October 2014:

1.      15.7% for Apple’s iOS, an increase of 0.2 percentage points over a similar period in 2013

Still the Apple iPhone 6 and the Apple iPhone 6 Plus are in third place after launching on Friday October 17^th 2014, with the US$130 Xiaomi RedMi Note that was launched  in March 2014 as noted in my blog article entitled “US$130 5.5” Xiaomi Redmi Note Phablet goes on sale in China on Tuesday March 26th 2014 - Low-cost Unlocked Phablets the next Tablet in China's Year of the Horse” holding the pole position at 29.9% for that period of time.

Apple has their work cut out for them, especially as Xiaomi has a habit of copying Apple's presentation style combined with viral sales of their smartphone. This as evident from the launch of the US$322 Xiaomi Mi4 in August 2014 as explained in my blog article entitled “US$322 Xiaomi Mi4 smartphone – The World is Not Enough as Chinese Small Rice James Bond Copycat copies Apple’s design”.

It'll be awhile before we can report that the Apple iPhone has beaten this Small Rice of a competitor whose prices is as delicious as it value-for-money design.

EU, British love Apple more than America - Europe and China Apple's Growth engines in 2015

In the US of A, where Apple is expected to have home court advantage, the breakdown of percentage sales across the US of A was also impressive for the three (3) months to October 2014:

1.      41.5% for Apple’s iOS, an increase of 0.7 percentage points over a similar period in 2013

Of that percentage sale, the various carriers were in a virtual dead heat to sell the most Apple iPhone 6:

1.      42.2% of Verizon subscribers

2.      41.4% of AT&T subscribers

The Apple iPhone 6 and the Apple iPhone 6 Plus is slightly stronger at whispering to Android users in the US of A:

1.      85% were repeat iOS customers

2.      9% were switching from Android smartphones

Again, like their British cousins, the Apple iPhone 6 outsold the Apple iPhone 6 Plus by a ratio of 3:1, with the 63% of iPhone 6 Plus sales being procured by AT&T. 

 This odd statistic from Kantar WorldPanel is confirmed by stats coming from Consumer Intelligence Report, who also notice this odd ratio; Apple iPhone 6 outselling the Apple iPhone 6 Plus by a ratio of 3:1 as stated in the article “iPhone 6 reportedly outselling the iPhone 6 Plus by 3-to-1 iPhone 6 beats iPhone 6 Plus for sales of new handsets”, published November 16, 2014 By David Nield, Digitaltrends.

Kantar Worldpanel Stats and Consumer Intelligence Report – 5.5” Speed Limit for smartphones

Europe and China are now the new growth engines for the Apple iPhone, with the Apple iPhone 6 propelling Apple to what may possible be a record breaking Fourth Quarter of 2014.

It can also be concluded form the Kantar WorldPanel Stats and Consumer Intelligence Report that concerns about the larger Smartphone being a bit too unwieldy mean that 5.5” and above may really be the upper limit for the size of smartphones.  

Especially as such larger phones necessitate you using a Bluetooth headset or a mini phone, such as the  WiMe's Talkase as noted in my blog article entitled “WiMe's Talkase Kickstarter - Why Bluetooth Physical Button Micro-SIM Phone indicates Smartwatch Calling and Bluetooth Device Trend for Feature Phones”.

Advice to Apple: this should be their first and last smartphone in this range, as the phablet trend isn’t for Apple as the trend is towards cheaper smartphones, not larger ones as predicted in my blog article entitled “IDC and NPD Group record Tablet Decline and Phablet Rise - “White Box” Chinese Tablets and Wearable Computing in First Quarter of 2014 making Tablets obsolete in the Year of the Sheep”.

So in summary, not only is the Apple iPhone more live in Europe and China than it is love in the US of A, it also appears that the Apple iPhone 6 Plus wasn’t necessary after all.