Kantar Paints An Interesting Samsung V Apple Fight In Q2 2016

Samsung and Apple remain the world's biggest brands when it comes to smartphones so naturally every quarterly report is about those two butting heads and fighting for numero uno. While that is still true to some extent, the world is slowly starting not to revolve around those two. Market research company Kantar divulges some interesting figures in the battle among smartphone makers, and while Samsung and Apple do remain at the top, not only is the gap between them narrowing more than ever, they aren't the only ones up there anymore, too.

Kantar shares these figures for the three months ending May 2016. In the US, Samsung leads the market by 37%, with Apple's 29% trailing behind. Although that might seem like a large gap, it could be a bit deceiving, as Samsung makes a whole lot of smartphones every year, if you only count each manufacturer's flagship models only, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge only accounts for 16% of sales while the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus take 14.6%. Not just a big difference. But here's the amusing bit. 5% of those purchasing Samsung smartphones come from Apple converts. On the other hand, 14% of those buying new iPhones are fleeing from Samsung.

In the UK, the two are more evenly tied with 36% each.

The story, however, doesn't end there. While only Apple and Samsung smartphones are in the top 10 in both the US and UK, at least from Kantar's numbers, when you expand the search to the top 20, you begin to see the likes of LG in the US and Sony in the UK gaining a foothold. But these days, the market to really watch out for is China.

There, neither Samsung's nor Apple's dominance is secure. Although Samsung did reign early on, it was easily dethroned, not by Apple, but by Xiaomi, until about last year. The moment Apple entered the picture, its already huge reputation allowed it to climb quickly to the top. However, now it is being threatened by Huawei, who is growing to be one of the biggest, or at least second biggest, smartphone vendor. Meanwhile, Samsung fell from grace down to 9% in the last quarter.

Kantar says that the theme of "Apple versus Samsung" is over, but not because either have won. Indeed, the battle actually continues. But now there are far more interesting developments happening outside of that two-horse race, and perhaps both companies should heed before they get taken over.

SOURCE: Kantar http://www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/News/Apple-versus-Samsung-is-so-over