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iPhone Losing Ground Abroad

Europe's economic mess, cheaper competitors a problem for Apple

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 22, 2011 12:27 PM CST

(Newser) – There's actually a pocket of the world that's beginning to be less iPhone obsessed—and it's a big pocket. While Americans and Brits are still snapping up the latest Apple phones, the company's share of the continental European market is slipping, thanks to a weakened economy and competitors' price drops, Reuters reports. Between September and November, Apple's French market share dropped 9 percentage points, to 20%, compared to the year before; in Germany, it fell 5 points to 22%; and its market share also shrunk in Spain and Italy. In the US, however, the figure rose from 25% to 36%, while it jumped from 21% to 31% in Britain.

Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the Apple iPhone 4S at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 3 comments

CenterIndependent

Dec 22, 2011 4:29 PM CST

I no longer use the iPhone... now a proud owner of an android, and will never go back. After replacing the iPhone twice because of crappy engineering and parts(built by the lowest bidder(China))... I gave up and went and got a Android... impressive OS compared to the iOS. Now if they can make more apps for the android.

carbonatedturtle

Dec 22, 2011 1:53 PM CST

Please go away now, Apple. Your time is up.

passinthru1

Dec 22, 2011 1:07 PM CST

That makes a lot of sense. In the US, Siri has been a big selling point for the 4S, but Siri doesn't support a lot of languages, so it is less a selling point abroad. Also, Google's own voice (along with Vlingo and others) support a ton of languages, so not only is Siri not a selling point, Apple's overall voice support lags significantly behind.

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iPhone Losing Ground Abroad

Europe's economic mess, cheaper competitors a problem for Apple

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

iPhone • Europe • Apple • smartphones • iPhone 4S

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More Newser Stories

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Or at least, it might if it was allowed on company's network

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Next generation could feature 4-inch screen: 9to5Mac

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Angry crowd is told 4S sale canceled

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