Samsung Retakes Top Spot Among US Smartphone Vendors as Galaxy S6 Becomes Third Best Selling Smartphone

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Jun 30, 2015) - The Android OS continues to reclaim market share in the US, where it has increased by 2.8 percentage points to 64.9% for the three months ending in May 2015, according to the latest smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. That improvement has not been matched in Europe's "big five" (Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain), where market share of devices based on the Android OS dropped 2.9 percentage points when compared to the same three-month period in 2014.

"The first full month of sales of the Galaxy S6 allowed Samsung to regain the market lead in the US and grow its share of Android sales from 52% in the three months ending in April to 55% for the three months ending in May," reported Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. "As is often the case with flagship products, the vast majority of Samsung Galaxy S6 sales came from consumers replacing an older smartphone at 94.4%, versus 5.6% of first time smartphone buyers."

When it came to device specifications that made an impact on the buy decision, 49% of Galaxy S6 buyers cited the quality of the camera, 48.9% were motivated by the clarity and resolution of the screen, and 45.9% found the large screen size decisively convincing.

For insight regarding the Samsung Galaxy S6 performance in the US market, visit: www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/News/Samsung_Back_on_Top_of_the_US_Smartphone_Vendor_Ranking

"In urban China, the two-horse race became a three-horse race, as the market leader Apple, Huawei now at number two, and Xiaomi are all within a 0.5 percentage point share of one another," said Tamsin Timpson, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Asia. "While share might be close, each vendor's customer base is quite different. Xiaomi and Apple capture the more affluent users, with 39% of Huawei's sales falling among consumers with a monthly income of less than 2000 RMBs. Geographically, close to 7% of Apple's sales come from the top four cities in China (Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen), while for Xiaomi, that number falls to 2%."

For a complete summary and analysis of this month's data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, please visit:www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/News/Samung_GS6_US_Sales_Bode_Well_For_Android_June_Quarter

About Kantar Worldpanel
Kantar Worldpanel is the world leader in consumer knowledge and insights, based on continuous consumer panels. Its High Definition Inspiration™ approach combines market monitoring, advanced analytics, and tailored market research solutions that inspire successful actions by its clients. Kantar Worldpanel's expertise about what people buy or use -- and why -- is recognized by brand owners, retailers, market analysts, and government organizations globally. For additional information, visit: www.kantarworldpanel.com.

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