Samsung Galaxy S5 makes inroads in Europe but sales flag in UK

30 Jun 2014

The Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone

Samsung’s Galaxy S5 was the third best-selling smartphone in the UK during May, lagging behind its older rivals, Apple’s iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c.

However, among those who did buy the the Galaxy S5 across the five largest European markets, 17pc switched from Apple. More than half, 58pc, of European Galaxy S5 buyers were existing Samsung owners.

Across Europe, Android remains the No 1 OS, with 73.3pc market share, followed by Apple and Windows, with 16.6pc and 8.1pc market share, respectively.  

“The Samsung Galaxy S5 has had some success in attracting former iPhone owners across Europe,” explained Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

“In general, consumers buying the Galaxy S5 were primarily attracted by its large screen size. This is something Apple is likely to address with the rumoured larger-screen iPhone 6 launch expected in late September.”

An Apple a day …

Sunnebo added that in the US, the Samsung Galaxy S5 was the second highest selling smartphone in May, just behind the iPhone 5s.  

“However, at a total brand level, Samsung claimed the top spot, with 36.8pc of sales versus 32.5pc for Apple over the past three months.  

“Apple loyalty is high in the US, with former iPhone owners making up just 8pc of Galaxy S5 sales. The majority of those switching to Samsung were LG and HTC users.”

kantar

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com