Kantar argues that Windows Phone is now earning former Symbian platform users and that it has begun to win formerly low-end users of the Android operating system.
Many interesting facts include the latest report, "Mobile Trends That Matter Tomorrow," the research company Kantar Worldpanel.
According to Kantar, Samsung seems to maintain its leadership in the smartphone market, but facing several difficulties. Indicative is the decrease in market share for the last quarter of 2013, from 43,4% to 41,3%, compared to the same period in 2012. Now, the Korean company is under pressure from new, local companies, such as Xiaomi, Coolpad and Huawei in China.
By contrast, in markets like Latin America, intense competition comes from more traditional rebounding forces, such as LG and Motorola. Kantar's forecasts want Samsung to hold first, but continued competition pressure is expected to lead to a significant loss of market share.
In contrast, Kantar characterizes Windows Phone as the “fastest growing functional system in the world". According to the report, things started to change for Microsoft's operating system when the Nokia Lumia 520 and Lumia 620 were launched last year, which were aimed at the low-to-mid segment of the market (spec-wise), as well as and first-time smartphone buyers.
Kantar claims that Windows Phone is now winning over former users of the Symbian platform and has begun to win over former low-end users of the Android operating system. At the same time, all this low-demand public is also a potential buying public for the most high-end models of Microsoft and Nokia when these consumers upgrade their device.
However, great interest is also hidden in some statistics recorded by the Kantar report. Only 41% of smartphone buyers remain loyal to a certain brand, while 68% remain loyal to its operating system. In addition, there is a trend where consumers who change smartphones usually get a new device with a larger screen.
On the contrary, in Europe this trend shows signs of bending. More specifically, almost half of Europeans, phablet devices, preferred to buy a new device with a smaller diagonal screen. Kantar argues that devices such as Samsung Galaxy S4 and LG G2, with screens close to 5 inches and small margins, have allowed this transition.
Passing into the "eternal" battle of the operating system, research suggests that Android dominates 12 major markets with a share of 70%, as opposed to iOS in second place with 22% share. However, in the quality of the survey, iOS has more "faithful" users than Android (84% versus 78%). Also, Apple device owners spend 72 dollars per month on their mobile phone bill, against 69 dollars, spent by Android device users.
Source: naftemporiki.gr
