The latest round of sales figures produced by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech show just how much of a success the Moto G smartphone has been for Motorola. The figures specifically deal with the UK, where until the end of last year, Motorola had a negligible share of the market. By the end of February 2014, it had risen to 6 percent, a feat accomplished solely by the Moto G.
Until the Moto G went on sale, Motorola had effectively ignored the UK and Europe. While it had a strong following when the Razr was popular, when it came to smartphones, Motorola preferred to concentrate on other markets. Early Droid phones went on sale months after the U.S. launch, and eventually, Motorola stopped bothering at all. Therefore, the Moto G faced a huge challenge. Re-introduce an effectively dead brand into an overflowing market.
According to Kantar’s Strategic Insight Director, Dominic Sunnebo, the Internet was instrumental in bringing the Moto G to buyer’s attention. He said 40 percent of British consumers turned to online reviews before deciding which phone to buy. It’s no coincidence that almost half of all Moto G sales were made online. He also breaks down the profile of the typical Moto G buyer. Half of all owners are aged between 16 and 24, while a massive 83 percent are male. Given their ages, and the cost of the phone, it’s no surprise to see 40 percent of owners earn less than £20,000 (almost $33,300) per year.
Sunnebo adds the Moto G’s success “highlights the speed at which a quality budget phone can disrupt a market,” and concludes the phone has “stolen significant numbers of low-mid end customers from Samsung and Nokia.” The latter will certainly be hoping to see a similar reaction to its new, Android-based Nokia X devices, following their release.
We’re sure this new generation of Motorola fans hope the company will take heed of this data, speeding up future device launches, and not restrict early Moto 360 sales to the U.S. for too long.
Android still number one OS according to Kantar
While Motorola is the real story inside Kantar’s latest research, it has also published its smartphone OS market share stats. Correct at the end of February, in the U.S. Android holds 55 percent of the market, up nearly 4 percent over last year. Apple has fallen nearly 5 percent in the same time, down to 38 percent. Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS is now at 5 percent, up a single percentage point over 2013, while BlackBerry has a mere 0.6 percent.
It’s worth looking at the UK’s figures too. Windows Phone has gained nearly 4 percent in the last year, and is now up to just over 10 percent of the market, and it has clearly stolen some of this from Android, which has fallen 4.3 percent to 54 percent total. Apple’s iOS is in a clear second place with 32 percent market share. Finally, Japan remains the only country where iOS trumps Android, with Apple’s OS commanding a 54.9 percent share over Google’s 44 percent.
