Samsung Loses Some Share To LG
Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) released analysis of the results of its research on mobile phone manufacturers for the calendar quarter that ended December 31, 2014. This analysis features findings about consumer trends in mobile phones in the US from October-December 2014.
CIRP finds that among the major phone brands, Apple had the largest share of the US market, with half of all phone sales (Chart 1).
Chart 1: Phone Brand Share of Activations Q4-2014
The strength of the September 2014 launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus fueled Apple's dominance in US mobile phone sales this quarter. Apple had virtually double the sales of Samsung, and five times that of LG. No other brand accounted for as much as 5% of US sales. The Amazon Fire and Blackberry smartphones registered slight share, which we attribute to random sample fluctuation as much as actual sales.
Because of the iPhone launch, Apple increased its share considerably over the 28% in the July-September quarter. For most of the earlier quarter, buyers held off buying Apple phones in anticipation of the launch. Apple also increased its share slightly from the October-December 2013 quarter, when it had 48% of sales. More telling, Samsung saw its share fall from 31% in the October-December 2013 quarter, evidently giving up sales to LG, whose share increased from 8% in the October-December 2013 quarter.
By every measure, Apple's 2014 phone launch was a success. iPhones drew from loyal Apple customers, with 86% of buyers upgrading from an older iPhone. Samsung and LG saw far lower loyalty rates, with 25% of Samsung owners and 18% of LG owners who activated a phone in the quarter switching to an iPhone.
CIRP bases its findings on a survey of 500 US subjects, from December 27, 2014-January 5, 2015 that activated a new or used phone in the October-December 2014 period. For additional information, please contact CIRP.