Samsung

In the past year, there's been an influx of mobile devices that tout various advances in camera technology. To help you identify which new devices are uniquely suited for photography, we reveal the smartphone model that photography enthusiasts are adopting most.

Flurry Analytics, owned by Verizon Media, is used in over 1 million mobile applications, providing aggregated insights across 2 billion mobile devices per month. For this analysis, we focus on Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy devices that launched during 2020. Note that we don’t review the latest Galaxy S21 line, as its 2021 launch two months ago is too recent for us to assess lasting consumer preferences. First, Flurry looked at U.S. mobile app users active in the past 3 months, which we refer to as the “general population.” We then defined photography enthusiasts as the subset of mobile users active on professional photo editing apps. Let’s start by reviewing the install base of the iPhone 12 series among photography enthusiasts compared to the general population.

In the chart above, we show smartphone preferences across the iPhone 12 line among the general population in the top row compared to photography enthusiasts in the bottom row. We show the share captured by device, and color code each segment by device price point. For example, the iPhone 12 Pro is a device that captures the greatest share difference among photo enthusiasts (33%) compared to the general population (23%), and it’s color coded a medium blue denoting a midrange price of around $1,000. With a more advanced camera for just $200 more than the base iPhone 12 model, the iPhone 12 Pro camera features appear to resonate among photo enthusiasts. The iPhone 12 Pro Max, which is also the most popular iPhone 12 device, appeals slightly more to photo enthusiasts (44%) than to the general population (41%).

Let’s next review the install base of the Galaxy S20 series among photography enthusiasts versus the general population.

The chart above shows that photography enthusiasts and the general population share the same order of smartphone preferences in the Galaxy S20 line, albeit in different percentages. Their first choice is the lower-priced Galaxy S20, followed by the midrange priced Galaxy S20+. The least adopted model is the premium Galaxy S20 Ultra. Despite having more advanced front- and rear-facing cameras, the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s premium price tag seems to deter both the general population and photography enthusiasts from electing it as their first choice.

While both photography enthusiasts and the general population’s preferred model is the lower-priced Galaxy S20, we observe the opposite trend in the iPhone 12 line. The most premium model, the iPhone 12 Pro Max, is the most popular phone among both photography enthusiasts and the general population. We think this difference could be due to the Galaxy S20 line being more expensive than the iPhone 12 series, with the lower-priced Galaxy S20 model being as expensive as the midrange iPhone 12 Pro model. This difference could also result from Apple and Samsung having different customer profiles.

Note that for both the iPhone 12 and Galaxy S20 series, photography enthusiasts tend to adopt more premium-priced phones with higher-end cameras than the general population. As a result, photography enthusiasts seem to be less price-sensitive than the rest of the population, or the extent to which they value the high-end camera supersedes their sensitivity to price.

Summary

In the iPhone 12 line, the premium-priced iPhone 12 Pro Max is the most adopted smartphone by the general U.S. population and photography enthusiasts alike. By contrast, the lowest-priced base Galaxy S20 model is the most preferred phone in the Galaxy S20 series.
Among smartphones in the iPhone 12 and Galaxy S20 series, the iPhone 12 Pro is the only model that photography enthusiasts rank higher than the general population. It is the second most adopted model in the iPhone 12 line among photography enthusiasts, while it ranks as the third most adopted phone in the general population. The iPhone 12 Pro model therefore uniquely appeals to photography enthusiasts and appears to be particularly well suited for photography.

Make sure you follow us on the Flurry Blog, Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest reports on smartphone industry trends.

Samsung and Samsung Galaxy are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in the United States or other countries.

iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

The Flurry blog (https://www.flurry.com/blog/) is an independent blog and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. or Samsung

Smartphone Growth Surges in Middle East by 23%

LisaMoshfegh — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 06:23:22 +0000

Smartphone Growth Surges in Middle East by 23%

By Aman Bansal, Flurry Analyst

LisaMoshfegh Tue, 03/09/2021 - 22:23

2021-03-10

Tags

The Middle East is an ethnically and culturally diverse trans-continental region which includes countries in Western Asia, as well as Egypt and Turkey. The most populous countries in the Middle East are Egypt, Iran and Turkey, while Saudi Arabia has the largest area. In this report, we review the smartphone market in the Middle East in order to better understand growth opportunities and consumer preferences in the region.

Flurry Analytics is used in over 1 million mobile applications worldwide, providing insights from 2 billion devices per month. Let’s begin by reviewing the distribution of mobile devices across the Middle East by country.

In the chart above, we list each country in the Middle East by its percentage of active smartphone users as of January 2021. Unfortunately, due to political constraints, we are unable to report on app usage from Iran and Syria. Iran is one of the larger countries in the region and its population makes up 21% of the total population in the Middle East. According to a recent report from Statista, Iran has the largest number of smartphone users in the region, which means that, if included, Iran would likely top this list.

Turkey is the top country on our list in terms of the smartphone users in the Middle East region. Turkey accounts for 28% of smartphone users and 26% of the region's population, followed by Egypt (23% of smartphone users, 29% of population) and Saudi Arabia (14% of smartphone users, 10% of population).

Next, let’s review the countries experiencing the largest smartphone growth year-over-year.

As seen in the chart above, the Middle East region saw a strong increase in device activations, growing on average 23% year-over-year. This growth was primarily driven by the larger markets such as Iraq and Egypt that continued to grow despite their huge existing user base. Among the reasons growth is so high across these countries is low existing smartphone penetration, which stands at 20%, and 28% for Iraq and Egypt respectively. Their relative market sizes and growth rates provide lucrative opportunities for app developers to monetize and grow their own user bases. Declines seen for UAE and Qatar in mobile device activations are likely due to their very high smartphone penetration rates of 81% and 75% respectively, meaning a limited scope for growth.

Next, let’s review the platform preference in the Middle East.

In the chart above, we list each country by its share of Android devices in blue compared to iOS devices in gray. While the average Android share in the Middle East is 78%, it varies considerably amongst different countries. The countries with the highest GDP per capita, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and UAE, have the lowest percentage of Android penetration, ranging from 57% to 66%, and therefore a high share of iOS users. Yemen with the highest share of Android devices (98%) also happens to have the lowest GDP per capita in the region and very low share of iOS users. This wide variation speaks to the diversity within the Middle East which app developers should keep in mind as they vie for success in these markets.

Next, let’s take a look at market share by smartphone manufacturers in the Middle East.

In the chart above, we list the top 5 smartphone manufacturers in the Middle East as of January 2021. We then combine the remaining manufacturers into “Others,” represented by the gray slice of the pie. Samsung is the clear leader controlling 39% of all smartphones in the Middle Eastern market, followed by Huawei at 18%, Apple at 18%, Xiaomi at 6%, and OPPO at 4%. From 2020 to 2021, Samsung lost 2 percentage points, Apple lost 4 percentage points, whereas Huawei remained flat and Xiaomi and OPPO gained 3 percentage points and 1 percentage points respectively. In the ever-evolving smartphone market, Chinese manufacturers are gaining popularity in the Middle East at the expense of global behemoths, Samsung and Apple.

Finally, let’s review the most popular device models in the Middle East.

In the chart above, we list the 10 most popular smartphone devices in the Middle East as of January 2021 by the number of active devices in the market. We list Samsung models in green, Apple models in orange, and Huawei models in purple. Huawei’s Y9 Prime takes the top spot with 1.9% of market share, followed by Samsung’s Galaxy On Nxt and Apple’s iPhone 11. Apple smartphones feature 5 of the top 10 spots, followed by Samsung and Huawei taking the remaining 3 and 2 spots respectively. Combined, these top 10 devices account for only 15% of the region’s total market share, further demonstrating the fragmented smartphone market in the region.

With a 23% average growth rate of new smartphone activations, the Middle East is one of the world’s fastest growing regions in terms of smartphone growth. Considering low smartphone penetration rates in several of the region’s countries, we expect growth to continue and we imagine app developers will follow. Make sure you follow us on the Flurry Blog and on Twitter and LinkedIn for more mobile industry insights.

iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Samsung and Samsung Galaxy are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in the United States or other countries.

The Flurry blog (https://www.flurry.com/blog/) is an independent blog and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. or Samsung.

Price-Cuts Adversely Impact Early Adoption of Samsung Galaxy S21 Smartphones

LisaMoshfegh — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 17:40:26 +0000

Price-Cuts Adversely Impact Early Adoption of Samsung Galaxy S21 Smartphones

By Aman Bansal, Flurry Analyst

LisaMoshfegh Mon, 02/15/2021 - 09:40

2021-02-15

Tags

Samsung recently launched its latest lineup of smartphones, the Galaxy S21 series, which represents the latest smartphone technology from the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer. The lineup was unveiled on January 14, 2021 and made available to the public on January 29, 2021 in the U.S. as well several other countries. The Galaxy S21 is the least expensive and smallest (6.2”) smartphone in the lineup starting at $799, followed by Galaxy S21+ with a bigger screen (6.7”) starting at $999 and Galaxy S21 Ultra with the biggest screen (6.8”) starting at $1,199. All smartphones in the lineup are 5G-equipped, just like their predecessors in the Galaxy S20 series. This report evaluates the S21’s first week launch performance.

Flurry Analytics is used in over 1 million mobile applications, providing insights from 2 billion mobile devices per month. Let’s start by reviewing how the Galaxy S21 lineup performed during its launch week compared to Samsung’s Galaxy S20 series launch last year.

In the chart above, we show the install base captured in the U.S. for the Samsung Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S20 series during their respective launch weeks. Across both years, lower-priced models are shown in green, midrange in blue, and premium-priced in dark blue. This year’s Galaxy S21 series captured a combined 0.36% install base during the launch week, a big drop compared to the Galaxy S20’s 0.61% last year. In both 2020 and 2021, the most premium devices, represented in dark blue, captured the most market share. And this year, the S21 Ultra captured even more than last year’s S20 Ultra; however, market share for the total S21 series is down compared to last year’s S20 series due to lower-than-normal adoption rates of the base model and mid-range model.

We believe this drop in sales volume during the launch week was caused by anticipation that Samsung may reduce prices soon after launch, as it did for the Galaxy S20 smartphone just weeks after last year’s launch. As we write this report, a little over two weeks have passed since the Galaxy S21 series was released, and Samsung has already cut its prices. The prices for Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21+ have already been reduced by $100, while the Galaxy S21 Ultra saw a steeper price reduction of $200. This practice of cutting the price so soon after the launch likely dissuades early adopters from purchasing the new flagship Galaxy smartphones during launch week.

While Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21+ saw very little sales volume during launch week, the Galaxy S21 Ultra seemed unaffected, capturing 0.31% of the Samsung smartphone market share in the U.S., which is even higher than the market share captured by Galaxy S20 Ultra last year. This indicates that consumers purchasing the Galaxy S21 Ultra aren’t waiting for the price to drop, and seem to want the most advanced Galaxy smartphone as soon as they can get it.

The popularity of the most expensive flagship smartphone isn’t just limited to Samsung. Flurry recently reported that the iPhone 12 Pro Max was the best-selling phone in the iPhone 12 series lineup. The largest and most expensive smartphones are likely seeing strong sales in the middle of a pandemic as people are investing more in their digital assets while staying home. Additionally, there may be less economic hardship felt by higher-income earners during the pandemic as they continue to be employed, can more often work from home, and who are the primary consumer base for more expensive smartphones.

Let’s next look at which Samsung smartphones have the most overall penetration in the U.S. today.

In the chart above, we list the install base for the top 15 Samsung smartphones in the U.S. during the week of the Galaxy S21 series launch, January 29 through February 4, 2021. The green bars represent the Samsung smartphones launched in 2020, the blue bars represent launches in 2019, and the gray bars represent pre-2019 Samsung smartphones in the market. Unlike iPhone models, which are much fewer in number, Samsung releases a much higher number of smartphones under different series such as Galaxy S, Galaxy A, Galaxy Note, etc. While Galaxy S smartphones are the most popular, taking 9 out of the top 15 spots, both Galaxy A and Galaxy Note smartphones take 3 spots each. None of the smartphones in the Galaxy S21 lineup have made it to the top 15 list yet, and amongst the Galaxy S20 series launched last year only the Galaxy S20 cracked the top 15 list. The top ranking smartphones all belong to the older Galaxy S family, which indicates the popularity of the S series in the United States, and growth potential of the Galaxy S21 series over time.

Next, let’s review the share of new Samsung smartphone activations over the last two years.

In the chart above, we illustrate the share of new Samsung devices activated in the U.S. from over the past two years. To simplify the chart, we grouped devices by their model series. The darkest blue represents the most premium Samsung line, the S series. The Galaxy S series’ share has declined from 43% in January 2019 to only 30% in January 2021. The lightest blue, the Galaxy J series (which has since been discontinued), is the lowest-priced Samsung device in the market. Combined, the Galaxy J series and the Galaxy A series represent the low-to-mid-priced Samsung models. Together, these series made up 37% of Samsung’s share in January of 2019, but their combined share has increased by 18 points to 55% of all Samsung smartphones in the market as of January 2021.

Based on new device activations trends over the last two years, it appears that Samsung’s install base mix in the U.S. is shifting from more premium to more lower-priced devices. Of course, the U.S. is somewhat of an anomaly for Samsung, as it is one of the few markets in the world where Apple has a larger market share. We will continue to monitor Samsung S21 series adoption trends, both in the U.S. and worldwide. Since prices have been reduced, initially tepid adoption during launch week could improve momentum over time. Make sure you follow us on the Flurry Blog, Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest reports on the mobile industry.

Samsung and Samsung Galaxy are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in the United States or other countries.

iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

The Flurry blog (https://www.flurry.com/blog/) is an independent blog and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. or Samsung

Flurry 2021 State of Mobile

LisaMoshfegh — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 20:55:24 +0000

Flurry 2021 State of Mobile

By Lisa Moshfegh, Product Marketing | Estelle Laziuk, Flurry Analyst | Aman Bansal, Flurry Analyst

LisaMoshfegh Mon, 02/08/2021 - 12:55

2021-02-09

Tags

2020 was an unforgettable year. The global COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we live, learn and work. And as the world appeared to be in chaos, smartphones kept people connected, informed and entertained. For this year’s Flurry State of Mobile, we’ll review the most significant global trends related to smartphone adoption, mobile app category growth, and app usage behavior.

Flurry Analytics is used in over 1 million mobile applications, delivering insights from more than 1 billion smartphones worldwide. All data in this report represents global numbers, excluding China and Europe due to insufficient data. Let’s start with which countries are seeing the greatest growth in smartphone adoption.

In the chart above, we identified the countries with the largest year-over-year increases in new device activations. In other words, these are the countries driving the world’s smartphone growth. India, for example, experienced a 31% year-over-year increase. For a country of 1.3 billion people with smartphone penetration around 30%, this represents tens of millions of new smartphones flooding the market.

Globally, we’ve seen a 6% increase year-over-year in new smartphone activations. But as many countries in North and South America have experienced flat or even a slight decline year-over-year, the growth is clearly coming from countries in Asia and the Middle East.

Let’s next review year-over-year shifts in market share of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers and see which companies are benefiting from this smartphone growth.

In the bar chart above we list the global smartphone market share of the world’s largest smartphone OEMs. The gray bars represent 2019 market share, and the blue bars represent 2020 market share. Samsung has a 13 percentage point lead over Apple, the world’s second largest OEM. And while Apple has made significant gains in international markets with more recently released lower cost devices, they still have a long way to go close the gap on Samsung’s commanding lead.

Together, Samsung and Apple make up over half of all smartphones in use around the world, leaving a large part of the market fragmented. Best poised to shake-up the Samsung-Apple global duopoly is one of several Chinese manufacturers. According to analyst reports, Huawei makes up 43% of China’s smartphone market, which would put them much closer to Apple in terms of global market share than our data illustrates. However, as Huawei has to contend with U.S. sanctions, Xiaomi, OPPO, or vivo could see an opportunity to gain share.

Next, let’s take a closer look at the Samsung-Apple split at the country level.

In the chart above, we breakout new device activations by country and by OEM, ranked by the countries with the highest Samsung share. The blue lines represent Samsung, the green is Apple, and then we’ve combined all other OEMs together as Others in gray. Once again, this shows Samsung’s dominance at the country level, in addition to the global level we showed in the first chart. However, it also shows how fierce competition is among other Android manufacturers in several key markets including India and Indonesia.

Knowing that Apple controls 19% of the world’s smartphone market, we can deduce that Google’s Android operating system controls the remaining 81%. Next, let’s see how the operating system split looks at the country level.

In the chart above, we list the ten largest markets in terms of total new smartphone devices sorted by share of Android smartphones. As you can see, the Android operating system dominates in many of the world’s largest markets. Even in the United States, arguably Apple’s most important market, Android holds a small lead. And in countries such as India and Indonesia, with large populations and relatively low smartphone penetration, the numbers really tilt in Android’s favor.

Any plans Apple has for international expansion in some of these key markets could be hampered by the premium prices of iPhone devices. For years, Apple ratched up the price of its most premium devices, with the highest-end models nearing $1,500. More recently, however, Apple released lower cost devices like the iPhone XR and iPhone SE likely as a means to find new audiences both in the U.S. and abroad.

Next look at what groups are driving mobile device and app usage.

In the chart above, we present the percent change in sessions per user from 2019 to 2020 by generation. Generations Z and Y, which collectively represent those from high school age to around 40 years old, increased their app usage the most, by 11% and 34% respectively. We believe that these young adults and young working professionals gained the most additional free time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With school shifting to remote learning, work transitioning to the home, and heavily reduced social activities, these users increasingly turned to their smartphones to pass time. This aligns with an earlier report we published showing that Gen Z mobile gaming surged during the early months of the pandemic. Let’s now review which app categories saw the biggest increases year-over-year.

In this final chart, we show which app categories had the largest increase in sessions per user from 2019 to 2020. App categories that facilitate working and learning from home, such as Business and Productivity, saw the largest increases, up 85% and 29% respectively. Social apps allowed people to stay in touch when the pandemic prevented in-person gatherings, and of course, Food & Drink benefited from the unexpected interest in baking, as well as the surge in take-out orders. Even though the mobile gaming category only shows a 7% increase, a single digit percentage increase actually represents massive growth as gaming is already one of the most heavily used app categories in mobile.

On the other end of the spectrum, Travel and Shopping app categories suffered major declines year-over-year, likely due to the stay-at-home orders in place throughout much of the year due to COVID-19.

While 2020 was a year unlike any other, we don’t expect 2021 will bring much normalcy until the COVID-19 vaccine becomes available to all. As the world begins to re-open, we believe smartphone and app usage will trail behind as people have become even more connected to their mobile devices than before. Please make sure to follow us on the Flurry blog, Twitter and LinkedIn where we regularly report on smartphone adoption trends and shifts in user behavior.

iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Samsung and Samsung Galaxy are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in the United States or other countries.

The Flurry blog (https://www.flurry.com/blog/) is an independent blog and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. or Samsung.

December Holiday Smartphone Activations Down 20% Year-over-Year

LisaMoshfegh — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 21:22:49 +0000

December Holiday Smartphone Activations Down 20% Year-over-Year

By Lisa Moshfegh, Product Marketing

LisaMoshfegh Wed, 01/06/2021 - 13:22

2021-01-06

Tags

Holiday Mobile Insights

December is by far the highest month for new device activations in the United States. Elevated device activations begin around Black Friday, peak on Christmas Day and remain elevated through New Year’s Day. Combined, this forms an extended, appreciable wave of new smartphone activations across the month. In this report, we share how December 2020 smartphone activations fared against the backdrop of slumping retail sales during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.

Flurry Analytics is used in over 1 million mobile applications, providing insights from 2 billion mobile devices per month. Let’s see what happened.

Decreased Demand Continues in December

This holiday season was like no other. A combination of growing unemployment rates, stay-at-home orders and business closures, many people reduced holiday spending and most shifted buying online. On Christmas day, smartphone activations were down 23% year-over-year. Let’s now compare the entire month of December 2020 to that of 2019.

In the chart above, we plot daily smartphone activations across December 2020 in dark blue and December 2019 in light blue. The 2020 curve shows an even, decreased amplitude but follows the general shape of 2019’s curve. This indicates that total demand was down but that consumer purchasing behavior still follows a similar pattern. In both cases, December is elevated, there is a spike on Christmas Day, and stepped-up tail between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Overall, December 2020 smartphone activations are down 20% compared to December 2019. We believe the underlying driver is COVID-19 which has increased unemployment, decreased consumer spending, and pushed the bulk of sales transactions online. Limitations on family gatherings may have also dampened gift giving. While overall smartphone adoption was down, a significant volume of devices were still adopted. Let’s see which device models rose to the top this holiday season.

In the chart above, we list the top 10 most activated smartphones in December 2020 along with the market share captured for each device. Similar to Christmas day, last year’s iPhone 11 took the number one spot with 5.7% of total smartphone activations in December. This year’s most premium device, the iPhone 12 Pro Max was number two and the iPhone 12 was number three. In total, across all of December, Apple iPhone devices took eight of the top ten spots, with LG’s Stylo 6 and Samsung’s Galaxy A11 taking the eighth and tenth spots respectively.

The success of several discounted devices this year is noteworthy, indicating that consumers were notably more price sensitive this holiday season. However, the second place finish by the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which starts at $1,099, is remarkable and proves that Apple loyalists want the most advanced smartphone Apple has to offer.

The Case of the Missing Mini

While three devices from Apple’s 2020 iPhone 12 line ranked among the Top 5 most popular devices, the iPhone 12 mini failed to even crack the Top 10. In fact, we have to go all the way to the 25th spot to find the flagship mini device, despite consumer interest for Apple to make a smaller, pocket-friendly device. We believe that the value and size of the iPhone SE cannibalized interest in the iPhone 12 mini. The iPhone 12 mini starts at $699—just $100 less than the iPhone 12—with a 5.4” screen, while the iPhone SE, which ranked 6th overall, starts at $399 with an even smaller screen.

Let’s next review the share of new devices captured by manufacturer.

In the pie chart above, you’ll see that Apple captured 46% of all smartphones activated in December in the United States, compared to Samsung’s 27% and LG’s 9%. It’s worth noting that Apple’s annual Fall release schedule is optimized to capture interest leading into the holiday season in the United States, arguably Apple’s most important market. While Samsung ranked 2nd in the United States, it remains the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer. And while only one Samsung device cracked this year’s Top 10 list for December, the South Korean OEM has roughly 6X the number of models in the market compared to Apple. In other words, Samsung’s sales volume is spread out across many more models.

As we predicted shortly after Thanksgiving, this year’s holiday smartphone activations are down year-over-year likely due to the pandemic. The holiday season in the U.S. continues to be the highest volume period for new device adoption, and this year was marked by split interest between high end and much more budget-friendly models. Apple continued to dominate the Holiday Season in the U.S., which maps to its device release and promotion schedule. Make sure you follow us on the Flurry Blog, Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest analyses on smartphone adoption and user behavior.

iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Samsung and Samsung Galaxy are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in the United States or other countries.

The Flurry blog (https://www.flurry.com/blog/) is an independent blog and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. or Samsung.

iPhone 12 Launch Spurs Rapid Adoption of 5G Smartphones

amanbansal — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 16:34:17 +0000

iPhone 12 Launch Spurs Rapid Adoption of 5G Smartphones

By: Aman Bansal, Flurry Analyst

amanbansal Tue, 12/22/2020 - 08:34

2020-12-22

Tags

App Insights

2020 has surfaced the importance that technology plays in society. Since the beginning of the pandemic, digital technology has enabled people to work remotely, attend classes, play social games, shop, leverage virtual assistants, and more. All told, the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation by several years and will endure long after the pandemic is over.

Will 5G Meet Expectations?

As consumers expect better digital experiences, 5G wireless opens up new possibilities. With ultrafast speeds, seamless connectivity and negligible latency, 5G can improve multiplayer cloud gaming, shopping with augmented reality, real-time video collaboration, and so much more. 5G will accelerate app development around areas such as cloud computing, AR/VR, IoT, and artificial intelligence.

Despite this potential, 5G adoption requires the build-out of infrastructure and compatible devices. But 2020 saw the world’s two largest smartphone manufacturers, Samsung and Apple, release several 5G-enabled devices. In this report, we’ll review 5G smartphone adoption trends as well as the OEMs that are helping bring the technology to consumers.

5G-Enabled Device Adoption Explodes

Flurry Analytics is used in over 1 million mobile applications, providing insights from 2 billion mobile devices per month. Let’s start by looking at the number of new 5G-enabled smartphones entering the market each month in the past two years.

In the chart above, we show the number of new smartphone activations per month starting from December 2018 when the first commercial 5G network services in the world launched in South Korea. All the spikes in device activations, seen as bumps on the chart, correspond to the release of a new 5G-enabled device. The first time a significant number of 5G-enabled smartphones entered the market was when Samsung released their Galaxy S10 5G phones in April 2019, followed by more 5G-enabled flagship smartphones in August 2019, March 2020, and August 2020. Apple joined the 5G bandwagon notoriously late in October 2020 with its iPhone 12 series, and since then the number of 5G-enabled smartphones in consumers’ hands has skyrocketed.

While the percentage of smartphones in the market is still relatively small at 1.7% as of November 2020, the number of monthly activations have increased by 1671% from last year. We expect the adoption rate to continue its sharp increase in the coming weeks as people purchase the latest and greatest smartphones during the holiday season. If the above trend is any indication, 2021 will likely be a banner year for 5G as expected improvements in infrastructure and broader penetration of 5G-enabled devices will meet the critical mass needed for app developers to design next-generation user experiences.

Apple Poised to Overtake Samsung as The Top 5G OEM Next Year

Let’s next look at the market share of 5G-enabled smartphones by OEM, and how it is changing over time.

In the chart above, we look at the current market share as well as the share of new device activations as of December 2020. This includes all countries in the world except Europe and China, due to GDPR compliance and lack of Android data respectively. Samsung constitutes 61% of all 5G-enabled devices in the market today, whereas Apple’s share is just 30%, followed by a distant LG at 4%. Samsung was amongst the first OEMs to release 5G-enabled devices in early 2019, which provided it a solid head start. However, Apple is taking a majority share of new activations (63%) thanks to the recent release of its iPhone 12 series, and appears to be on track to overtake Samsung to become the top 5G OEM in the world in the year ahead.

Network Coverage Matters

According to a report from the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), China has a two-year lead over the U.S. in terms of 5G infrastructure deployment. Since 5G technology has been available to the public for a longer time in China compared to the U.S., we looked at iPhone 12 adoption in both countries during the launch week of Apple’s first ever 5G-enabled device.

In the chart above, the bars represent the number of new devices activated during their respective launch week. The gray bars represent sales in the U.S. and the blue bars represent sales in China. Historically, iPhone sales in China have lagged behind those in the U.S. during the launch week for iPhone XR and iPhone 11. However, iPhone 12 sales in China exceeded those in the U.S., and we believe this is due to 5G technology being more top of mind for Chinese consumers given the more mature 5G ecosystem in the country.

As we head into 2021, we are excited by the possibilities of 5G technology, and what that means for the mobile ecosystem. Follow us on the Flurry Blog, Twitter and LinkedIn to find out about interesting trends in the mobile space.

iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Samsung and Samsung Galaxy are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in the United States or other countries.

The Flurry blog (https://www.flurry.com/blog/) is an independent blog and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. or Samsung. Flurry is a part of Verizon Media.

2020 Smartphone Demand Down Ahead of Christmas

LisaMoshfegh — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 17:53:44 +0000

2020 Smartphone Demand Down Ahead of Christmas

By Aman Bansal, Flurry Analyst and Lisa Moshfegh, Flurry Product Marketing

LisaMoshfegh Fri, 12/11/2020 - 09:53

2020-12-11

Tags

Holiday Mobile Insights

The holiday season in the U.S. between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a critical sales period for smartphone manufacturers. From 2016 to 2018, the last three years Apple disclosed unit sales, the company sold well over one-third of its iPhones during the last quarter of each year. And while the stakes are just as high this year, the pandemic has strongly impacted the economy. COVID-19 has left many unemployed, reduced retail foot traffic, and forced Americans to simply stay home, leaving retailers scrambling to prepare for a largely digital December. As we head into the make-or-break stretch leading up to Christmas, this report studies early trends from the first weeks of this atypical holiday season.

Flurry Analytics is used in over 1 million mobile applications, providing insights into 2 billion smartphones worldwide per month. Let’s begin by reviewing new device activations in November of this year compared to last year.

In the chart above, we plot new device activations—new smartphones entering the market—by week in the United States for 2019 in light blue, and 2020 in dark blue. Except for the second week of November, smartphone activations so far this year have been below those of 2019. In fact, during the week of Thanksgiving, which typically kicks off the holiday shopping season in the United States, smartphone activations were down 11% year-over-year. If November’s smartphone activations are an indicator for the rest of the holiday season, then we are facing a slower-than-normal holiday season.

In addition to lower year-over-year activations this November, device activations peaked two weeks before Black Friday due to an extended period of holiday retailer deals that started earlier in the month of November. Early deals drove front loading of smartphone purchases, perhaps with some OEMs offering discounts to compete against Apple’s newly premiered iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini which became available two weeks before Black Friday. To get a sense for how this year will unfold, we look back to 2019 when new device activations increased by 42% during the week of Christmas 2019 over the prior week. Below-average activations during November 2020 signals lower smartphone demand this year, likely caused by the pandemic. While activations Christmas week will indeed be the highest of the year, they are unlikely to match 2019 numbers.

Let’s look back at 2019 device activations per OEM during the weeks leading up to Christmas.

In the chart above, we show new device activations during the last two weeks of December in the U.S. among the six leading smartphone manufacturers. The column on the right side of each couplet represents activations during Christmas week, with the prior week shown on the left. Apple, in orange, and Samsung, in green, are the two most popular brands in the U.S. They both experienced week over week growth during that final week of the year: Apple grew 49% compared to the prior week while Samsung grew 23%. Given the recent success of the iPhone 12, we expect Apple to outsell Samsung again this holiday season.

With many consumers still finalizing their holiday shopping, we compiled the top two smartphones across each pricing tier based on new device activations during the week of Black Friday 2020. Let’s see how they stack up.

In the chart above, we list the top smartphone brand within each budget tier, as well as the best selling smartphone models. The height of the silver bar indicates how close or far behind the second place finisher is compared to the first in each category. For example, Samsung has the top two selling smartphones under $200 with the Galaxy A11 and Galaxy A10e. Based on the height of the silver bar, the Galaxy A10e is not that far behind the Galaxy A11. For all other price points, Apple takes the top spot with various iPhone models that span the price spectrum. Samsung’s Galaxy line takes a distant second place in the three highest priced tiers, further demonstrating Apple’s popularity among U.S. consumers as well as Apple's control of the premium end of the market. LG’s Stylo 6 is the only brand other than Apple or Samsung to even make the list, coming in second place in the budget category of $200 - $400, behind the iPhone SE.

Last week, we reported that due to the pandemic, in-store shopping during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend was down 41% year-over-year. We suspect this trend will continue throughout the 2020 holiday season as daily cases of the coronavirus continue to rise. Most people are placing orders online, and holiday deals impact when those orders are placed. Given the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic with no prior precedence, retailers are likely scrambling to find favor with consumers, and many consumers are more cautious about what they buy. At Flurry, we will continue monitoring device purchase trends and keep bringing you valuable insights. Please subscribe to the Flurry blog and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay updated on trends in the mobile industry.

iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Samsung and Samsung Galaxy are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in the United States or other countries.

The Flurry blog (https://www.flurry.com/blog/) is an independent blog and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. or Samsung.

Smartphone Adoption Ramps in India as Diwali Becomes Top Shopping Holiday

LisaMoshfegh — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 01:01:38 +0000

Smartphone Adoption Ramps in India as Diwali Becomes Top Shopping Holiday

By Aman Bansal, Flurry Analyst

LisaMoshfegh Wed, 11/25/2020 - 17:01

2020-11-25

Tags

Holiday Mobile Insights

Earlier this month, more than one billion people in India as well as expatriates across the world celebrated the festival of Diwali. Best known as the Festival of Lights, Diwali is marked by family gatherings, fireworks and prayer, and is one of the most widely celebrated festivals in India. Over the years, the weeks leading up to Diwali have become the most important holiday shopping season in the country with people splurging on gadgets, clothes, appliances, jewelry, and more. And because of this willingness to spend, annual sales are now part of the holiday celebration, making Diwali a battleground for OEMs in the region. In this report, we review how smartphone sales surged during this increasingly important shopping event in India.

Pandemic Impact on Smartphone Sales

According to a recent survey conducted among Indian consumers by YouGov, an online market research firm, respondents indicated that they would spend less this Diwali holiday season due to financial hardships caused by the pandemic. While they indicated they were hesitant to spend on most categories, they cited buying a smartphone as an exception. This bodes well for smartphone manufacturers as they vie for consumer attention in the world’s second largest smartphone market. Let’s review how the major OEMs in India performed during the weeks leading up to Diwali.

In the chart above, we report the growth in new devices during Diwali for the top OEMs selling smartphones in India. We compared the devices activated during holiday sales from October 16 through November 14, to the devices activated in the preceding thirty days, September 16 through October 15. All of the top OEMs achieved at least a 50% increase in device adoption, with OPPO driving the most growth at 88%. This increase can largely be attributed to the holiday deals run by the retailers, in addition to people upgrading their smartphones as they’ve increased their screen-time during the pandemic.

Chinese OEMs Dominating New Device Sales in India

Despite recent political tensions between India and China, including calls for a boycott of Chinese products, Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi, vivo and OPPO continue to gain unprecedented share in the Indian smartphone market.

In the chart above, we compare the share of smartphone sales by OEM during the week leading up to Diwali for each of the last four years. The combined market share of the Chinese manufacturers (Xiaomi, vivo and OPPO) increased from 28% during Diwali holiday season in 2017 to 63% during this Diwali in 2020. While Chinese OEMs have expanded share in the Indian market, Samsung--the world’s smartphone leader--has seen its share steadily decline over the years. That said, overall smartphone sales this Diwali were 38% higher than last year’s sales. This expanding market results in net unit growth for Samsung, but should be a concern for their long term market position.

Holiday Deals Eclipse Direct Sales from Apple

As shown earlier in this report, Apple experienced a 73% increase in device shipments in the weeks leading up to Diwali. However, Apple’s overall share in India remains below 2%. Apple had no physical or online retail presence in India until launching the Apple Store online on September 23rd, 2020. For the first time, this enabled people within the country to buy directly from Apple, as well as receive customer support, financing and various trade-in options. Before Apple’s online store launched, people in India could only buy Apple products through authorized resellers or third-party websites such as Amazon or Flipkart. Creating a presence in India underscores the importance of India as an expansion market for Apple. Let’s take a closer look at the impact of the Apple online store launch and annual holiday deals on new iPhone device activations.

In the above chart, we show new activations by day of Apple iPhone devices: iPhone 11, iPhone XR, and iPhone SE. Note that we exclude the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro which launched in India on October 30 but were neither discounted nor saw a resulting lift in sales. Across the chart are two distinct periods. On the left, we show the period between when Apple launched their online store and the beginning of holiday sales leading up to Diwali. And on the right, we show the device activations from the beginning through the end of the holiday sales period.

In India, significant deals are offered during Diwali by companies like Amazon and Flipkart. Charting when these deals began on October 16, we see that Apple device activations spike significantly as soon as the deals begin. Compared to buying an iPhone directly from the official Apple website, a consumer could find discounts between 10% - 30% through these third party retailers. This shows that consumers will bypass the official channel for the purchase of an iPhone device if they receive a sizable enough discount. As a result, consumers in India may be more price sensitive than in other markets.

The size of India’s market, combined with a smartphone penetration of just 32%, make it among the most high-potential growth opportunities on the planet for smartphone manufacturers. Despite the effect the pandemic has had on the economy in India, smartphone sales continue to soar which we believe is a harbinger of a robust mobile ecosystem in India. We’ll continue to monitor smartphone and related adoption trends in India, and keep you updated about any important developments. Be sure you subscribe to the Flurry blog and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest reports on the mobile industry.

iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

The Flurry blog (https://www.flurry.com/blog/) is an independent blog and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. or Samsung.

Samsung and Apple Jockey for Smartphone Leadership with Contrasting Approaches

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 19:39:45 +0000

Samsung and Apple Jockey for Smartphone Leadership with Contrasting Approaches

By: Lisa Moshfegh, Product Marketing

Anonymous Wed, 09/30/2020 - 12:39

2020-09-30

Tags

App Insights

Apple and Samsung together account for more than half of the world’s active smartphone install base, and are clearly the leaders of the OEM smartphone market. But if we take a closer look at how they each earn their market share, there are remarkable differences. This Flurry report takes a closer look at Apple versus Samsung market share, the number of products each company has in the market, top devices in the top 20 countries, and more.

Flurry Analytics, owned by Verizon Media, is used in over 1 million mobile applications that reach 2 billion smartphones per month. Unlike other market share analyses that rely on device shipments or sales, we measure devices currently active in the market, which we believe presents a more accurate picture of current market share. Let’s begin with an August 2020 snapshot of active devices by OEM.

In the chart above, we list device manufacturers by their share of global active devices. Note that due to insufficient data in China and Europe, we exclude those regions from our analysis. Starting on the left hand side, Samsung is the global leader with 33% of the world’s active smartphones, followed by Apple with 20%. Now let’s take a closer look at which devices are most popular.

In the chart above, we list the world’s top 15 active smartphones using data from August 2020. We color coded Apple devices in blue and Samsung devices in orange. You’ll note that all of the top 15 devices are made by Apple or Samsung, with Apple holding the top 10 spots. Expanding to the top 15, Samsung Galaxy devices begin to show up. Of the top 15, Apple has 12 devices, and Samsung 3. No other manufacturer’s device appeared on this list, reminding us how much these two OEMs control the world’s device base.

Considering the first two charts together, you’ll likely wonder how Samsung leads Apple in global market share by so much while holding very few of the top 15 devices. That could come down to how they approach product lines. Most years, Apple launches one or two iPhone models, sometimes with a few different device tiers as was the case with the iPhone 11 series. Samsung, on the other hand, launches as many as twenty different models in a given year to accommodate regional preferences and provide coverage across the price spectrum. To illustrate this, let’s do a side-by-side comparison of the market share versus the number of active devices between Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy lines.

On the left side of the chart above, we compare the market share of Apple’s iPhone line, in blue, to that of Samsung’s Galaxy line, in orange. And on the right side, we compare the number of active devices between the two product lines. The Samsung Galaxy line is 8 percentage points higher but achieves this market share with 457 devices compared to Apple iPhone’s 28 devices. Slowing down for a moment, this means that there are 16X more unique Galaxy models active around the world compared to Apple iPhone models. This fragmentation of Samsung devices helps explain how Samsung can have more total market share without having any of the top 10 active devices. With this approach, the Samsung Galaxy active user base is 1.4X that of Apple’s iPhone. While this translates to more market share, Samsung’s fragmentation could also raise questions about economies of scale and complexity in manufacturing, distribution and promotion.

Overall, the top 15 devices shown in our earlier chart represent 20% of the world’s smartphone market. The remaining 80% of the market comes from more than 8,000 device models offered by over 800 OEMs, illustrating how fragmented the entire industry is, Apple notwithstanding. Let’s next check out which devices are most popular in each country.

In the table above, we list the most popular device in each of the top 20 countries, excluding Europe and China due to insufficient data. Doing so reveals more OEMs and devices, with some regional trends appearing. In Latin America, including Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, Samsung’s Galaxy J line is the leader. In countries with higher income per capita, such as the United States, Canada and Japan, the iPhone takes the top spot. Notable Chinese manufacturers Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi also appear on the list in parts of the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. And third party analyst reports show that both Huawei and Xiaomi have strong penetration in China.

Samsung’s approach of shipping many more device variants, and at lower price points, has resulted in capturing a third of the world’s smartphone install base. Apple, with fewer devices at higher price-points controls a one-fifth of the world’s install base. And while Samsung has a larger total footprint, Apple may enjoy economies of scale with longer production runs across fewer SKUs and more focused distribution in the world’s more developed economies. Either way, this competition leads to innovation and choice for consumers, further driving advances in smartphone technology and capabilities. Make sure you subscribe to the Flurry blog and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on the latest smartphone adoption and usage trends.

iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Samsung and Samsung Galaxy are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in the United States or other countries.

The Flurry blog (https://www.flurry.com/blog/) is an independent blog and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. or Samsung.

Apple and Samsung Jockey for Global Smartphone Dominance

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 17:35:42 +0000

Apple and Samsung Jockey for Global Smartphone Dominance

By: Lisa Moshfegh, Product Marketing, Flurry Analytics

Anonymous Wed, 09/02/2020 - 10:35

2020-09-02

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