Samsung has sold more smartphones than Apple in the United States in the first quarter of 2018 in the United States. It does not happen every day.
The United States is the stronghold of Apple. The Cupertino company usually reigns supreme.
It has just been preceded by Samsung. According to the latest statements from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, Samsung held a 39% market share in the US.
Apple had to be content with 31% of PDM (Apple still captures more than 50% of revenue from the smartphone market).
LG comes in third with 14% and the rest of the manufacturers share 17% of the activations.
The slowdown in iPhone sales is not the only cause of this turnaround.
It is also the consequence of the calendar of the outputs of the smartphones.
Apple was number one in the fourth quarter of 2017 due to the launch of the iPhone X, the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus.
The demand then ran out of steam at the beginning of 2018. Samsung then unsheathed the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9 +. The trend has logically reversed in favor of the Korean firm.
This good performance is not just a leverage. As can be seen from the chart, Samsung has been able to gain market share over the first quarter of 2017 or the fourth quarter of 2017.
Samsung increases its retention rate
The US market sends another good signal to Samsung. The level of customer loyalty is increasing compared to 2017. It exceeds 70% in the first quarter of 2018.
Until now Android users were switching from one smartphone to another without really worrying about the brand. Samsung has applied the same strategy as Apple.
The strong customization of its Android overlay and the quality of its devices seem to have convinced them to remain faithful.
For its part, Apple retains its huge fan base with a record fidelity rate of 90%.
