Interpac Business and Migration Solutions Melbourne Australia

(Aug.18)

Google's Android platform has for the first time overtaken Apple's iOS in smartphone sales in Australia.

In the 12 weeks to August 7, 42.9 per cent of smartphones sold in Australia were Android phones compared to 37.2 per cent for Apple's offerings, new figures from Kantar's ComTech WorldPanel reveal. Kantar's statistics are based on regular interviews with a panel of 10,000 Australians.

The recent rapid rise of Android in Australia mirrors trends seen overseas and serves to explain some of the recent animosity between Apple and Android phone makers.

iPhone sales have slipped recently but is this just because the iPhone 5 is on the way? Photo: AP

IDC telecommunications analyst Mark Novosel, who also compiles his own smartphone market share figures from a range of sources including store sales data, said Kantar's data "is really interesting and definitely makes sense to me".

But Telsyte analyst Foad Fadaghi believes Android's rise is only temporary as people may be holding off their iPhone purchases in anticipation of the iPhone 5, which is rumoured to be launching on October 7.

"With the exception of the 12 w/e May data period, where Apple's share was lower than its usual 35 per cent level, Apple has always been ahead of Android so this is the first period to really show quite a discrepancy between the two operating systems," a Kantar spokeswoman said.

Samsung Galaxy S II ... leading the Android charge.

Of course, multiple vendors make Android phones while Apple is the only brand selling phones based on iOS. However, the sheer dominance of the iPhone makes this milestone significant.

Android's rapid rise

Kantar attributed Android's rise to the impressive new devices launched by Samsung and HTC in recent months, namely the Samsung Galaxy S II and HTC's Desire S, Desire Z and Incredible S.

If you take just the last four weeks, Android's share is 54 per cent of smartphones (compared to 29 per cent for Apple), indicating that Android is becoming as dominant in Australia as it now is in the US and Western Europe.

Kantar conducts 130,000 interviews a year in Australia with the same sample of 10,000 individuals aged 16+ interviewed every four weeks. The company's surveys measure actual ownership, purchases, and usage of mobile devices.

It claims its panel is representative of the population, samping by age, gender and region as well as working status. Panel participants are not paid to do the survey but incentivised with vouchers and Kantar runs the same surveys in over 10 countries.

No longer 'toys for geeks'

Novosel said he was still finalising his data for the most recent quarter but the shift by the mainstream towards Android was "definitely something i've seen as well".

"No longer are Android phones seen as toys for geeks. The appeal is broadening as the range increases," he said.

"Apple has eased slightly from Q1 although still by no means shipping small numbers."

Novosel said he had also seen evidence that people were shifting in large numbers from Nokia's Symbian platform to Android, iPhone and even BlackBerry. New Nokia phones based on Windows Phone 7 aren't due for some time.

But iPhone 5 is almost here

Fadaghi attributed the slowdown in iPhone sales to the rumoured impending launch of the iPhone 5. He said looking at annual figures iPhone was still "streets ahead" and would continue to be when the next iPhone comes out.

The latest iPhone 5 rumour suggests it will launch on October 7 with preorders from September 30. This matches with other reports that have said it was certain to launch some time in October.

The new device is likely to have a faster dual-core processor and a better rear-facing camera.

Kantar said Australia had the highest level of smartphone penetration in the world at 49 per cent. This matches figures from Telstra which suggest an Australian smartphone penetration of 46 per cent - which Telstra expects to grow to 60 per cent over the next year.

"Android smartphone popularity has soared, with 24 per cent of smartphone users now owning Android-powered phones such as the HTC Desire S – up from 5 per cent just a year ago," Telstra said.

Legal action left, right and centre

As Android's popularity grows, Apple is suing various Android device makers including Samsung, HTC and Motorola for allegedly copying its devices and infringing its patents. But the Android camp is firing back in kind, with HTC this week suing Apple to halt US imports and sales of Macs, iPads, iPods and iPhones.

A recent injunction preventing sales of Samsung's Android iPad rival in Europe has been removed. Reports have suggested that in obtaining the injunction Apple misled the court by digitally manipulating a picture of the Samsung Galaxy Tab to make it look more like the iPad.

In Australia, Samsung agreed not to sell the tablet in Australia but argued it was developing a different version specifically for this market that would not infringe Apple's patents. Experts seriously doubt whether Samsung will be able to sell the device without making it unusable.

Today, Samsung refused to provide any further detail on when it might introduce the modified tablet in Australia. It has agreed to send samples to Apple a week in advance, allowing the company to file for new injunctions if it believes it still infringes its patents.

Google has come out with a stinging defence of its Android partners, arguing the use of patents to block competition was killing innovation and strangling Android.

But Google is no stranger to the patent wars itself, this week announcing a $US12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola's mobile division - a huge valuation driven by Google's desire to own Motorola's 17,000 patents, which it can use to defend itself against allegations of infringement.