Apple's UK smartphone lead shrinks
Samsung marketing cash, iPhone 5 rumours take their toll
While Apple's iPhone 4S is still the UK's most popular smartphone, accounting for one in five of all those sold last month - sales are slipping.
Back in March, the 4S accounted for 25 per cent of UK smartphone sales, the Financial Times reports, citing from market watcher GfK.
Deflecting the 4S' sales trajectory downward is the Samsung Galaxy S III, its manufacturer having finally realised what Apple has understood for years: splash the cash on marketing and people are more likely to buy your product.
We've noticed that, in addition, to customer-facing promo work, Samsung has also enticed network operators to push the Galaxy S III on its behalf. Rather a lot of announcements from the UK's cellcos of late that talk about smartphones reference the S III as the only example.
We suspect, but have no evidence to back this up, that they're not doing so for free.
GfK doesn't give such market data out for free, either, and we suspect the information has been provided to the FT - not unreasonably - by someone with an interest in showing how iPhone 4S sales are falling while S III sales are on the up.
Who could that be?!?
The numbers quoted by the FT show the S III took 18 per cent of the UK smartphone market in the first week of June, just behind the 4S' 19 per cent.
Samsung's promotional activity aside, you might well expect Apple's 4S sales to have peaked by now. It's eight months on from the launch and there's so much speculation about Apple's next model - almost certainly the iPhone 5, given 2012 marks the platform's fifth anniversary - that many punters will be holding back.
Plenty of them will be coming to the end of two-year contracts taken out on the back of June 2010's iPhone 4 debut, so won't be in the market for an upgrade until later this month in any case. Those on 18-month iPhone 4 contracts probably went over to the 4S last autumn. ®
COMMENTS
Well, fair play to Samsung's marketing people
There is a massive display in my local soul-crushing mega-mall, with a load of S3 units to play with, and friendly out of work actor types in Samsung polo shirts who actually encourage you to pick them up and have a good play (the phones, damnit, behave).
The operation is slick, and the units are equally impressive. As someone who was considering an S3 anyway, it was enough to tip me over the edge- working as intended.
It's a really impressive device, and they are marketing it well, too. It makes sense that they're grabbing some market share. Personally, I think it's a good thing, keeps everyone (Apple included) on their toes- you can't just sue your way out of everything, gotta keep getting good products in the hands of users.
The iPhone looks old now.
I was looking at buying a new smartphone recently and I was browsing my local eMobile store here in Ireland where they'd a nice selection of Androids, Windows phones, iPhones and others all plugged in and playable-around with.
I have to say that the current iPhone form factor is showing its age at the moment. The new Galaxy SIII in particular looks stunning in comparison to it as do many of the other Android phones on the market at that end of the market.
Apple really need to innovate the form factor a bit and produce something that is market leading again. They seem to spend all their time chasing patent law suits these days rather than actually tweaking their phone design.
Not just marketing
"Deflecting the 4S' sales trajectory downward is the Samsung Galaxy S III, its manufacturer having finally realised what Apple has understood for years: splash the cash on marketing and people are more likely to buy your product."
Well ... that and having a decent product to market in the first place.
Having one without the other isn't a recipe for long term success.
"Though I still won't want one! Don't want people thinking I'm a complete twat"
It's a bit late for that
For someone that purportedly doesn't want one, or even has no interest in the iPhone, you sure do spend an awful lot of your time on them. I think that you have a massive man-crush on the entire Apple exec team and that's why you spend so much time obseessing about them.
