Mobile web traffic is becoming an increasingly common way to determine the most popular smartphone companies across the world. Smartphones are increasingly overtaking desktops in terms of web browsing with latest figures according to KPCB stating that 51% of media time is now spent on mobile devices.
Samsung and Apple took a strong lead in all the countries examined below based on mobile web traffic tracked by DeviceAtlas. In certain markets, local manufacturers can have a substantial market share, which may surpass that seen outside their home turf, for example, the Japanese operator DoCoMo holds over 10% of the browsing share with its own brand of smartphones.
The detailed and expansive device data provided by DeviceAtlas allows us to gain a deep insight into the current trends of mobile web browsing. This ultimately allows us to understand the most popular smartphone companies worldwide.
Using data from DeviceAtlas, the following information examines the most used smartphones based on internet usage in the UK, USA, France, Germany, South Korea, Japan and Australia.
UK
| Vendors | Web browsing share (%) |
|---|---|
| Apple | 60.39% |
| Samsung | 21.8% |
| Sony | 4.58% |
| HTC | 3.35% |
| Nokia | 2.83% |
Apple accounts for the majority of the web traffic at 60.39%, with Samsung being the second largest. Sony, Nokia and HTC all share a similar sized proportion of the market.
USA
| Vendors | Web browsing share (%) |
|---|---|
| Apple | 57.21% |
| Samsung | 17.9% |
| Verizon | 4.91% |
| LG | 4.33% |
| Sprint | 2.73% |
Apple is also a strong leader in the US, with Samsung in second place. LG has a substantial browsing share, second to South Korea. It is worth noting that several of the USA’s network providers hold a significant share of the smartphone market with their own branded devices.
France
| Vendors | Web browsing share (%) |
|---|---|
| Apple | 50.78% |
| Samsung | 26.07% |
| Sony | 4.1% |
| 2.84% | |
| Nokia | 2.75% |
France has a very similar structure to the UK regarding the most popular phone vendors. Apple is in a strong lead with over 50% of the market share in terms of browsing activity. Samsung, LG, and Sony are also very popular in France. Out of the major companies discussed, France is the only country in which Google is in the top 5 vendors according to web traffic activity.
Germany
| Vendors | Web browsing share (%) |
|---|---|
| Samsung | 37.83% |
| Apple | 37.45% |
| Sony | 5.55% |
| HTC | 4.56% |
| LG | 2.45% |
Samsung and Apple are almost equally popular in Germany, with Samsung being only marginally ahead. HTC and Sony also have a significant browsing share.
South Korea
| Vendors | Web browsing share (%) |
|---|---|
| Samsung | 48.97% |
| Apple | 30% |
| LG | 11.61% |
| Pantech | 4.94% |
| 0.97% |
Samsung takes the lead in its native country, occupying nearly half of the market. However, Apple has made a significant impact in its rival's home territory with 30% of the market share. Another South Korean native, LG, also holds a sizable share of the market.
Japan
| Vendors | Web browsing share (%) |
|---|---|
| Apple | 64.95% |
| DoCoMo | 10.33% |
| Sony | 6.56% |
| Samsung | 3.56% |
| KDDI | 2.61% |
Apple has a very strong presence in the Japanese market, while Samsung holds a very small percentage of the market. Sony holds 6.56% which is considerably low as Sony is a Japanese company. DoCoMo, a Japanese company has a 10.33% market share. This shows that the globally recognised competitors aren’t always guaranteed to have the most market share.
Australia
| Vendors | Web browsing share (%) |
|---|---|
| Apple | 65.51% |
| Samsung | 23.47% |
| HTC | 2.79% |
| Sony | 2.51% |
| Nokia | 1.26% |
Apple and Samsung cover nearly 90% of the entire Australian market. Therefore it is difficult for other competitors to gain much market share. HTC and Sony each have just under 3% market share.
Smartphone shipment statistics in 2014 (IDC)
| Vendors | Market share - sales (%) |
|---|---|
| Apple | 18.3% |
| Samsung | 24.6% |
| Lenovo | 5.6% |
| Huawei | 5.2% |
| LG Electronics | 4.6% |
Comparing the Mobile Web Traffic data with worldwide shipment data from IDC gives some interesting insights.
While Samsung and Apple are the leading vendors in terms of shipments in the majority of the countries examined, the top smartphone makers did consistently top the traffic charts in all countries. For example, Lenovo does not feature in the top five devices in any of the major countries we examined.
The large portion of other smartphone vendors that are popular throughout the world shows how much the market differs from country to country, and how individual countries can deviate from the top 5 device manufacturers by shipment.
Web browsing is a key way to understand the mobile world
It is clear that there are several factors that can determine the popularity of a smartphone. Domestic vendors can have a wide reach in their home market, competing with the major multinational smartphone companies.
Web browsing is becoming a key way to determine the popularity of most widely used smartphones, especially with the increasing usage of 4G technologies, providing speeds which rival broadband internet.
These statistics are a reflection of only a few of the major countries in the world with regards to smartphone usage determined by mobile web browsing.
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