
Android has retained its place as the UK’s most popular mobile operating system and now holds a near 50 per cent share of the market, according to new figures from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
The data shows that mobiles running Android accounted for 48.5 per cent of smartphones sold during the 12 weeks to 19 February, up from last year’s share of 37.8 per cent a year ago.
Second-placed Apple comprised 28.7 per cent of smartphone sales – 6 per cent more than the same period last year but 5.3 per cent less than the previous quarter (12 weeks to 26 December 2011).
RIM’s market share rose slightly compared to the previous 12 weeks, from 16.1 per cent to 17.1 per cent, although this was 7.3 per cent down year-on-year.
The biggest loser, however, was Nokia, with sales of Symbian-based handsets during the quarter falling 10 per cent year-on-year to just 2.4 per cent year-on-year.
In fact, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform is now just 0.2 per cent behind Symbian in terms of market share after strong sales of the new Nokia Lumia 800 helped increase its slice from just 0.5 per cent a year ago to 2.2 per cent.
The Kantar figures also reveal that more than half (51.3 per cent) of the British population now owns a smartphone and that owners of these devices are more satisfied with their handsets than those using feature phones, largely due to their range of capabilities such as GPS mapping and video streaming, which have become increasingly common uses.
According to the market research firm, Apple iPhone owners are the most satisfied, followed by users of Samsung and HTC handsets .