Apple remains Mr Popularity

Apple is still king of the hill in mobile devices but Samsung has started to make a run as its main competitor.

This according to a survey released by Jumptap, which reports on top mobile trends and market growth in the US.

Apple will be seeking to strengthen its position next week when an announcement is expected about the latest iPhone. In what has to be one of the worst-kept industry secrets, the new iPhone will be available in gold, which is sure to get the Apple fanboys and fangirls excited.

According to data on the Jumptap platform, Apple continues to hold the top spot in tablet market share with a 70.1 per cent of mobile traffic in July 2013. That’s a 3.1 per cent increase from July 2012.

That’s good news for CellOne, which is the only authorized mobile phone provider of Apple products in Bermuda.

However, the Samsung Galaxy, with its suite of tablet sizes, has doubled its market share from 5.3 per cent to 11.1 per cent.

Two months ago PTech saw value in the Samsung brand and became an authorized dealer in Bermuda, partnering with Digicel. It is the only place in Bermuda where residents can take part in the ‘Samsung Experience’. 

Samsung’s growth has come at the expense of Kindle Fire, which saw a boost in sales when it was relased after Christmas in 2011 when it expanded upon its book-reading capacities.

The Kindle Fire’s market share has dropped 11.4 points from 21.5 per cent to 10.1 per cent.

Search engine giant Google in an effort to try and stretch its reach past it primary business, saw its Nexus 7 garner 2.3 per cent of the market. Barnes & Noble Nook has 1.2 per cent while other tablets were at less than one per cent.

Matt Duffy, vice president of marketing at Jumptap said in a press release: “Previously, the iOS vs. Android battle could not crown a standing victor for Android, yet in the past year, we’ve seen Samsung rise above the pack in both tablet and smartphone share.”

Everything isn’t completely rosy for Apple however.  The iPod’s popularity may have reached its zenith as it slipped 10.1 points from 25.5 per cent to 15.4 per cent in the smart devices category. It’s simply a case of people seeing little value in carrying a device that does not have phone capabilities. 

Nearly all of its decline was gobbled up by sister product the iPhone, which rose 9.6 points from 31.8 per cent of the market to 41.4 per cent.

The iPod is still number 2, but it is expected that the Samsung Galaxy S will surpass it by the end of 2013.

BlackBerry and HTC face the most challenging struggle, with HTC’s global market share dropping to 5.3 per cent in the first quarter — from 9.3 per cent a year earlier — according to analyst firm Gartner.

Apps 

According to ad requests on the Jumptap platform, 84 per cent of mobile traffic now comes from apps. Just two years ago, the split was roughly 50/50. At the time, some experts predicted the death of the mobile app as companies began to build responsive, cross-platform mobile sites. It now seems that reports of the death of apps were greatly exaggerated.

Smartphones finally outsold feature phones worldwide in July. Feature phone users tend to be older or lower in income or both. n