Saturday, December 14, 2024
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iOS makes gains in most regions in the past three months as Android declines

The latest smartphone OS sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows Android sales declined in the U.S., Great Britain and France, as iOS continued to make gains across most regions in the three months ending November 2016. 

For Android, this marks the sixth consecutive period of decline in the US, at 55.3% of all smartphone sales, down from 60.4% in the same period a year earlier. In Urban China, iOS was down year-on-year at 19.9%, but continued strong period-on-period growth with sales from iPhone 7.

The iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone 6s were the three most popular smartphones in the U.S. at the beginning of the holiday period, for a combined 31.3% share. The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge were the fourth and fifth best-selling phones in the US, with Samsung capturing 28.9% of smartphone sales.

“Verizon booked nearly a quarter of all US smartphone sales during the Black Friday period, playing a vital role for all brands, including Apple and Samsung,” says Lauren Guenveur, Consumer Insight Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. “Buyers were motivated by Verizon”s promotions on both Apple and Samsung”s top phones, including offers of free iPhone 7, 7 Plus and Galaxy S7 phones after trade-in and purchase requirements were met.”

Although Android decreased in the US over the past year, the brand new Pixel phone by Google made strong gains, rising to 1.3% of sales in the three months ending November 2016, with more than half of that business done through Verizon, according to the research group.

In China, iOS was down year-on-year to a 19.9% share in Urban China, dropping from 25.3% in the same period in 2015. However, growth for iOS was up 2.8 percentage points over the previous three-month period, driven by sales of iPhone 7.

Have you ever seen an accessory for an Apple product that made you want to go out and buy the Apple tech just so you could get the accessory? That’s the way you might feel when you take a look at the Pad & Quill Cartella Slim Case for the 2016 MacBook Pro (affiliate link). 

The case, which uses book bindery techniques to create a book-like protective cover for the MacBook Pro, comes in sizes for both the 15-inch 2016 MacBook Pro ($99.95) and 13-inch model ($89.95). 

Pad & Quill uses a special residue-free and re-attachable adhesive developed in partnership with 3M to hold the MacBook Pro securely in place. The spine of the “book” is specially designed to create air circulation space at the back of the MacBook Pro to keep the device running cool. Here’s a video showing Brian from Pad & Quill explaining the design and features of the Cartella Slim:

There’s a Moleskine-like elastic band that keeps the entire case closed when you’re on the move. Three finishes are available; cranberry, linen grey and charcoal. 

The Cartella Slim looks great and is definitely a classy way to keep a 2016 MacBook Pro scratch-free…and if anyone would like to buy me a MacBook Pro so that I can review this case, I won’t turn ’em down…  🙂

Steve Sande
the authorSteve Sande
Steve is the founder and former publisher of Apple World Today and has authored a number of books about Apple products. He's an avid photographer, an FAA-licensed drone pilot, and a really bad guitarist. Steve and his wife Barb love to travel everywhere!