iPhone SE Is UK’s Best Selling Smartphone

Steve McCaskill,

New figures suggest Apple iPhone SE is driving iOS growth in the US and Europe – but supply issues limit impact in China

The iPhone SE is the UK’s best-selling smartphone, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, whose figures suggest the four inch model is helping Apple find growth in the European and US markets.

The mid-range device was launched in April in a bid to attract more Android converts and first time smartphone owners. It recycles many of the components of other iPhones and has a four-inch screen that is smaller than Apple’s current flagship iPhone 6S handset.

And it appears as though the strategy is working. iPhone devices accounted for a third of all sales in the US during the second quarter of 2016 and 18.2 percent across Europe’s five main economies.

iPhone SE

iPhone SE 1The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus are America’s favourite smartphones, commanding a 15.1 percent share, ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge (14.1 percent), with the iPhone SE in third with 5.1 percent. But it seems as though the UK love its even more.

“In Great Britain, the iPhone SE was the top selling device in the quarter at 9.2 percent, followed by the iPhone 6s at 9.1 percent. Together they contributed to iOS growth of 3.1 percentage points to 37.2 percent in the second quarter of 2016,” said Dominic Sunnebo, analyst for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech Europe.

“iOS also experienced continued momentum in France, at 20.2 percent of smartphone sales. In Germany, iOS sales increased for the first time since the third quarter of 2015, up one percentage point to 14.2 percent of smartphone sales from 13.2 percent in the June period last year.

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“These three markets combined, plus very slight declines in Italy and Spain, led iOS to grow across the EU5 by 0.7 percentage points. This represents the first period of increase since the three months ending November 2015.”

The iPhone SE also hoped to attract buyers in emerging markets but supply constraints in China meant Apple fell behind both Huawei and Xiaomi. However analysts are hopeful that the huge number of iPhone owners in the US and China with older iPhones means Apple has a huge opportunity – if it can entice them to upgrade and it solves its supply line problems.

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