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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.
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
Showing 3 of 3 comments
CenterLeft
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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