- February 27, 2013

Samsung Leads European Smartphone Market Ahead of Apple

The number of European mobile owners using smartphones has grown by 30 percent over the last year to 136 million smartphone users in the three month average ending December 2012. December 2012 was also the first month all EU5 countries (Germany, Spain, UK, France and Italy) passed the 50 percent mark for smartphone penetration.

Analysing the smartphone handset manufacturer (OEM) market shows that in December 2011, Nokia still led the field and captured a 28 percent share of all smartphones used in the EU5 region. During the past year a few notable changes took place - Samsung overtook Apple in February 2012 to reach second position with 21 percent share, behind Nokia who was still ahead with 24.8 percent of the European smartphone OEM market.

In April 2012, Samsung took the lead from Nokia to become the top smartphone manufacturer in Europe – a position that Samsung has maintained throughout the rest of the year, capturing 32.3 percent of the market in December 2012. The battle for second place was won by Apple with 20.5 percent market share, followed by Nokia who captured 16.3 percent of the market during that month.

For more mobile insights, download our presentation ‘The Impact of Connected Devices on Consumer Behaviour’ from our session at Mobile World Congress. The presentation provides an overview of the multi-device landscape shaping digital media consumption and highlights significant differences in usage across certain global markets.

European Smartphone Market