Counterpoint Research’s recent insights reveal that Android maintains its global dominance in smartphone OS usage, followed by iOS and HarmonyOS. Notably, in China, HarmonyOS has surpassed iOS, with growth expected to persist through 2025. Smartphone sales are projected to remain unchanged through 2024, resulting in a decline for Android’s market share in the US and India. Meanwhile, iPhone sales in India hit a record high, largely from older models. HarmonyOS holds a steady 4% global share, outperforming Apple in China due to government subsidies for devices. The report does not clarify the categorization of Huawei’s EMUI interface.
Counterpoint Research has released its latest quarterly analysis on smartphone operating system usage. The results reveal that Android continues to lead globally, with iOS in second place and HarmonyOS occupying the third spot.
The research organization provided intriguing insights into various regions. Notably, in China, the data shows that HarmonyOS has overtaken iOS, and its growth trajectory is expected to persist through 2025.
The consistency in results for both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year comparisons can be attributed to stable smartphone sales in 2024. Android reached its lowest quarterly share ever in Q4 2024, particularly in markets like the United States and India.
For example, the sales of Motorola and Google products in the US counterbalanced the steep year-over-year declines seen among smaller brands, while iPhone sales experienced only a 1% drop.
In India, iPhone sales hit a record high in the last quarter of 2024, with older generation iPhones comprising two-thirds of total sales.
HarmonyOS has sustained a consistent 4% share of the global market. While it ranks third in the competitive landscape, the Huawei operating system has outperformed Apple’s in all four quarters of 2024 within China. Counterpoint predicts further growth for HarmonyOS, as the Chinese government is subsidizing smartphone purchases with CNY 500 ($70) for devices priced under CNY 6,000 (just over $800) to stimulate the economy.
The research agency did not clarify whether EMUI, which is Huawei’s global user interface, falls under the same classification as its Chinese counterpart. Nevertheless, this distinction is largely negligible, given that most of Huawei’s smartphone sales occur within its domestic market.
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