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The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are outselling the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus in the U.S.
We all know Apple’s fortunes have been a bit all over the place of late: still raking in profits but experiencing declining sales. Well, this latest bit of news is probably handled best like a Band-Aid: just get it over and done with. The Samsung Galaxy S7 is outselling the iPhone 6s in Apple’s traditional stronghold of the U.S..
New figures from Kantar Worldpanel confirm previous reports that Apple’s sales are in decline, but what the new report also reveals is that the combined efforts of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge have been sufficient to dethrone the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus from the number one spot in America.
As Kantar analyst Lauren Guenveur notes, “in the three months ending May 2016, Samsung accounted for 37% of smartphone sales and Apple 29%….with the Galaxy S7/S7 Edge accounting for 16% of sales and the iPhone 6s/6s Plus at 14.6%.” The number of those switching from Samsung to Apple were still almost three times larger than in the opposite direction though.
Samsung accounted for 37% of smartphone sales and Apple 29%....with the Galaxy S7/S7 Edge accounting for 16% of sales and the iPhone 6s/6s Plus at 14.6%
But neither company is exactly going broke: “in both the US and UK markets, Samsung and Apple claim the entire top 10 list of smartphones sold. Only when expanding our view to the top 20 do we begin to see brands such as LG (in the US) and Sony (in the UK) make an appearance.” So while no Apple investors are likely to start living on the street, playing second fiddle to Samsung on home ground has got to hurt.
Of course, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus came out several months before the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, so you can always take the “novelty factor” into account. But Apple has traditionally dominated sales in the U.S. regardless of when the latest Galaxy appeared. The figures would seem to indicate what many have been saying for months: Apple has failed to reinvent itself just as Samsung has done a good job of doing so.
Apple has failed to reinvent itself just as Samsung has done a good job of doing so.
Furthermore, Samsung’s customer satisfaction figures have skyrocketed. According to Kantar: “among those intending to change devices within the next year, 88% of current Apple users and 86% of current Samsung users intend to stay loyal.” With the even-more-refined Grace UX destined to appear on the Galaxy Note 7 next month, Samsung may win over even more loyalists in the latter half of the year.
Does this surprise you? Do you think the trend will continue?