Samsung lost its leading position in the US smartphone market to Apple in the three months ending in April, according to Kantar Worldpanel. The company passed its Californian rival to take back its first-place the following month, however.
The three months ending in May encompassed the first full month of sales of the Galaxy S6. The iPhone 6 was the single best-selling smartphone in this period, and the iPhone 6 Plus was the fifth. However, Samsung took both second and third place with the S5 and S6, respectively. The vast majority of S6 sales – 94.4% – were to consumers replacing an older smartphone. Just 5.6% were to first-time buyers.
30.6% of consumers buying a Galaxy S6 in April and May were with Verizon, 27.2% with Sprint and 26.6% with AT&T. At the point of sale, though, Verizon stores represented 24.8% of sales; AT&T 22.2%; and Best Buy 23.7%. Almost 40% of consumers said that their purchase was influenced by a good deal on the price. 35.2% said that it was based on positive reviews, and 21.8% said that it was based on advertising.
The quality of the camera (very) narrowly edged out screen resolution and clarity as a buying decision. 49% of consumers valued the camera, and 48.9% valued a high-quality display. 45.9% said that they were convinced by the large screen (earlier research from Kantar, in May, showed that phablets had almost quadrupled their market share in the USA in Q1’15, compared to Q1’14 – from 6% to 21%).
