The iPhone was launched 15 years ago, creating the smartphone market segment. Shortly after, Android smartphones began hitting the market from a variety of manufacturers. Given competition in the market, the iPhone’s market share fell behind that of the usurper. Now in 2022, the iPhone is at the top of the smartphone market share heap with just over 50% of active users.
Data from Counterpoint Research shows that sales of the iPhone have been increasing on a quarterly basis. Between that, the longevity of iOS devices, and iPhone user retention, market share is now in the iPhone camp.
Counterpoint’s analysts say this is Apple’s highest share of active smartphone users since 2017. Research Director Jeff Fieldhack of Counterpoint told the Financial Times that “Operating systems are like religions — never significant changes, but over the past four years the flow has consistently been Android to iOS.”
As you’d expect, Apple’s 50% share of the active installed user base means that the other 50% use Android. However, there are many manufacturers using the Android OS on about 150 different devices. The data might not be exact; Apple doesn’t report iPhone sales, and Android manufacturers have followed Apple’s lead. However, an April 2022 report from StockApps that that Android had lost 8% of its marketshare worldwide in the past five years.
