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Smartphones Now In 69% Of People's Pockets(Sky News (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) A total of 69% of phones in use by the end of December were smartphones, Kantar Worldpanel said. It added that in the last three months of 2013, 85% of mobiles sold were hi-tech devices. Android remains the dominant operating system throughout Europe and showed growth there and in the Americas, China and Japan. Apple's rival system for iPhones lost market share in most territories but held strong in key markets of the US (43.9%), Britain (29.9%) and China (19%). Britain is the biggest phone market in Europe, while Apple has recently agreed a deal with China Mobile, the world's biggest carrier. Although Windows has strengthened its position struggling maker Nokia continues to suffer. "Unfortunately for Nokia the European smartphone market is only growing at 3% year on year so success in this market has not been enough to turn around its fortunes." Samsung remains the dominant maker but is coming under increasing pressure globally. Its European share dropped 2.2% to 40.3% last year while it remained flat in China at 23.7% Mr Sunnebo added: "It's no surprise that everyone is concentrating on high growth China, but currently local brands are proving clear winners. "In December, Xiaomi overtook both Apple and Samsung to become the top selling smartphone in China - a truly remarkable achievement for a brand which was only started in 2010 and sells its device almost exclusively online." :: Watch Sky News live on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202. (c) Sky News 2014 |