The Big Smartphone Market Share Data Roundup

There are now so many sources of mobile and market share data that no one of them can or should be seen as entirely authoritative. We now have perhaps a dozen firms pushing out smartphone data on a regular basis, using shipments, survey data or traffic as measures of market share. Below are a selection of these sources and their most recent numbers.

Kantar US smartphone market share (survey based, December 2013)

1. Android — 50.6 percent

2. iPhone — 43.9 percent

3. Windows — 4.3 percent

4. BlackBerry — 0.4 percent

5. Other — 0.8 percent

Comscore US smartphone market share (survey based, November 2013)

1. Android — 51.9 percent

2. iPhone — 41.2 percent

3. Windows — 3.1 percent

4. BlackBerry — 3.5 percent

5. Other — 0.2 percent

Nielsen US smartphone market share (survey based, August – October 2013)

1. Android — 52 percent

2. iPhone — 41 percent

3. Windows — 2 percent

4. BlackBerry — 3 percent

5. Other — 2 percent

Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (new US phone activations 10/13 – 12/13)

1. iPhone — 48 percent

2. Android — 46 percent

3. Windows — 3 percent

4. BlackBerry — 0 percent

5. Other — 3 percent

Netbiscuits (global smartphone traffic share)

1. Android — 48 percent

2. iPhone — 35 percent

3. Windows — 4 percent

4. BlackBerry — 5 percent

5. Other –8 percent

StatCounter (global traffic share by smartphone OS)

1. Android — 43 percent

2. iPhone — 21.8 percent

3. Windows — 2 percent

4. BlackBerry — 3.6 percent

5. Other –29.6 percent

StatCounter (US traffic share by smartphone OS)

1. Android — 39.2 percent

2. iPhone — 51.7 percent

3. Windows — 1.7 percent

4. BlackBerry — 5 percent

5. Other — 2.4 percent

Walker Sands (PR firm reporting sources of its clients’ US traffic for Q4)

1. iPhone — 32 percent

2. iPad — 3.9 percent

3. Android Phone — 45.6 percent

4. Android Tablet — 4 percent

5. BlackBerry — 0.8 percent

There are some meaningful differences among these numbers, based on a range of variables including sample size or reach. These are not “apples to apples” comparisons, so they can’t truly be combined into any kind of average.

In the US and probably globally the iPhone still has more traffic than its market share would imply. Globally, 80 percent of smartphones shipped in 2013 were Android-based. However Android mobile web traffic isn’t commensurate with that “shipments share.”

Blackberry still has some traffic but the end is certainly near. For example, CIRP reports zero US phone activations in Q4 for Blackberry. And while that’s undoubtedly not correct, it’s directionally accurate.

Finally, on a percentage basis, Windows Phone is growing faster than the other platforms. In Europe it has meaningful share (10.3 percent per Kantar) but not in North America.