According to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Sony and LG are making gains in the Southern Europe handset market, as consumers are opting for low-cost handsets.
The Southern Europe handset market is charaterised as being driven by different levels of handset subsidies and economic growth in different regions. For example, the Samsung Galaxy SIII handset accounted for 23.5 per cent of all smartphone sales in Germany in the first quarter of 2013. In comparison the Samsung Galaxy SIII handset accounted for a market share of 4.7 percent of the total handset sales in Spain. The company adds that in Spain, Sony has a 19 per cent market share and LG enjoys 17 per cent market share.
In markets such as the UK, the Android and iOS operating systems continue to account for the majority of smartphone sales, although Windows Phones are increasingly becoming popular. The share of the Windows-based smartphone in UK has increased by 4.4 percentage points in the first quarter of 2013. It has 8.4 per cent market share in the period under review.
