More than half of the US population now uses an iOS rather than Android smartphone – the first time Apple has overtaken Google since the iPhone’s launch in 2007.
Apple has always been strong in its home market and has a good share of the premium smartphone segment worldwide, but the greater variety of Android devices and price points has made it the dominant operating system.
Android first overtook iOS in the early years of the modern smartphone in 2010, and Apple never regained its superiority.
Smartphone sales in China
However, according to new data published by Counterpoint research (opens in a new tab)IPhone “active installed base” is now larger than Android.
This differs from shipments that reflect the newer trends on a quarterly basis, and this is an area where Apple is already doing well, meaning it is closing the gap.
For the industry, this means that Apple has a much larger market for selling its services, such as video, games. At a time when the smartphone market is saturating, these subscriptions are a growing source of recurring service revenue and tie consumers to the Apple ecosystem.
Third-party app developers are also included, meaning Apple will earn more commission and users will receive more optimized software.
The company could further increase its lead in the coming weeks with the latest flagship iPhone 14, set to hit the shelves ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season.
