iPhone crown: Over half of America is using smartphones made by Apple
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Android or iPhone? While the debate still rages on, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been steadily picking up market share in recent years, even as it presses into new horizons like advertising, payments, streaming content and health. Its iPhone business still remains a staple of the company, and has been a dominant force in the smartphone market after kicking off the mobile revolution in 2007.
Snapshot: According to fresh data from Counterpoint Research, Apple (AAPL) has surpassed Android (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to account for more than half of all smartphones being used in the U.S. The iPhone has even been growing at a 5% clip over the past few years, up from 35% in 2019, 40% in 2020 and 45% in 2021. Numbers are based on the "installed base" - or the amount of smartphones currently in use - compared to other metrics like shipments or purchases, which can vary greatly from quarter to quarter. Apple even refers to its "installed base" as the first lever of its "services business" and the "engine for our company."
"Operating systems are like religions - never significant changes. But over the past four years the flow has consistently been Android to iOS," wrote Jeff Fieldhack, Research Director at Counterpoint. "This is a big milestone that we could see replicated in other affluent countries across the globe."
Upcoming event: After reaching a four-and-a-half-month high during mid-August, Apple's (AAPL) stock has fallen 9% over the past two weeks, dragged down by general concerns over the economy and interest rates. The late-summer swoon comes ahead of the highly anticipated launch of the iPhone 14 next Wednesday, which will be the company's first in-person event since the pandemic began in March 2020. Can the new product cycle restart AAPL's upward momentum and make the tech giant a buying opportunity?