iPhone 5 leads Apple clawback of UK smartphone market

But Android still accounts for more than half of all sales

UK smartphone sales showed a distinct shift in favour of Apple in the six weeks to the end of September, latest data from research firm Kantar Worldpanel reveals.
Sales of Apple’s flagship iPhone 5 accounted for 28 per cent of the UK market compared to 21 per cent in the preceding six weeks, though the figures covered only nine days of iPhone trading.
But despite being the world’s most profitable phone maker, Apple’s market share equates to less than half that of Android which had 58.2 per cent of UK sales.

The Google OS accommodates a larger number of handsets at multiple price points, of course.

Kantar’s figures also illustrated the continued decline of Research in Motion’s BlackBerry which now accounts for just 8.8 per cent of the market compared to 20.8 per cent a year ago.

Footnote: Tiny Scottish chipmaker Wolfson Microelectronics has witnessed its first quarterly pre-tax profit in two years, with turnover buoyed by sales of smartphones and tablets.

The company reported a $1.6 million pre-tax profit in the three months to September 30, compared to a loss of $2.9 million in the same quarter a year ago. Revenues were up by nearly a third to $53 million.

Though Wolfson fell out with Apple as a supplier some years ago, the company’s chips have since found their way into rival products such as Samsung’s Galaxy S III smartphone and Microsoft’s Surface tablet.