Mobile trends: Smartphone penetration hits 55% in leading European countries

Apple leads the UK Smartphone market, but Samsung is catching fast, and Android has strengthens its position as the top operating system in the top 5 European markets, according to new data looking at mobile trends in Europe.

The research, from comScore,looks at key mobile trends across the five leading European markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) during the three month average period ending October 2012.
The study found that Spain has the highest smartphone penetration in Europe, with 63.2 percent of mobile phone users and also experienced the strongest growth with a 14.8 percentage point increase versus the prior year. In the UK, Apple remains the leading handset manufacturer, capturing 28 percent of the market, followed by Samsung with a 24 percent market share.
Google’s Android operating system continues its strong lead in the platform market, accounting for 46.6 percent of the smartphone audience, whilst Apple holds 28 percent.
More than 6 in 10 British Mobile Users Own a Smartphone
The European smartphone audience has increased 35 percent in the past year, from 97.7 million in October 2011 to 131.5 million in October 2012. The current smartphone penetration in EU5 markets is 54.6 percent of mobile phone users, a 13 percentage point increase compared to same period last year. Spain had the highest smartphone penetration at 63.2 percent, followed by the UK with 62.3 percent and France with 51.4 percent. Spain posted the strongest growth in the past year with a 14.8 percentage point gain, followed by the UK with a14.2 percentage point increase.

Apple Tops UK Smartphone Manufacturer Ranking, but Samsung Gains Share
Apple remains the top smartphone OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) in the UK with 8.6 million users, capturing 28 percent of the market. Samsung has seen tremendous growth over the year and is now in second place after doubling its market share from 11.2 percent to 24 percent during the year. RIM ranks in third place with 15.2 percent share, followed closely by HTC with 15 percent share.

Google Manifests Position as Leading UK Smartphone OS
Out of the 30.9 million smartphone owners in the UK, nearly half (46.6 percent) ran on Google’s Android operating system. Google also showed the most significant growth over the year, increasing its market share by 12.4 percentage points. Apple ranked second with 28 percent share (up 1.5 percentage points), followed by RIM which held 15.2 percent of the operating system market in the three month average ending October 2012.

www.comscore.com/companyinfo