Houten, The Netherlands, 18 June 2015 - The smartphone penetration grows still rapidly in the Netherlands according to Telecompaper's report 'Dutch Smartphone User' of Q1 2015. The research indicates a total growth of almost ten percentage points for last year where the smartphone penetration among the elderly (65-80 year olds) crossed the 50 percent line. It also reveals that Apple's share in the smartphone market increased and activities on the smartphone that involve the need for internet/data are becoming more popular.
The smartphone penetration in the Netherlands still shows an increasing line. In the past year the smartphone penetration even grew with nine percentage points. In the first quarter of 2015 more than eight out of ten Dutch consumers had a smartphone (81%). A year ago this was still 72 percent. The increase is mainly caused by the growth among the 50+ age groups (50-64 and 65-80 year olds), both age groups showed a growth of more than ten percentage points. Currently, a majority of the elderly (65-80 year olds) owns a smartphone (54%), a year ago this was just four out of ten (40%). In contrast, the smartphone penetration of the age groups 12 to 30 year olds is flattening, with already a very high penetration of more than nine out of ten consumers (>95%).
The research also shows that the share of smartphone users with an Apple smartphone was still growing. Apple holds in the first quarter of 2015 a quarter of the smartphone market (25%). Samsung dominates in the smartphone market with a market share of almost 50 percent (47%). Meaning, the Dutch smartphone market is still dominated by the brands Samsung and Apple with more than 70 percent of the Dutch smartphone market. Sony, LG, Huawei and HTC together have 19 percent of the total market share. The remaining 9 percent is divided over the smaller brands like Nokia, BlackBerry, Alcatel and Honor.
Furthermore the report reveals that taking pictures and sending a SMS remain the most popular activities among smartphone users. However, it also shows the trend that the popularity of activities on the smartphone that need internet/data increased. Sending and receiving mail, instant messaging and chat, mobile banking and navigation are becoming more popular activities. Activities that need internet are especially popular among Apple users, Nokia smartphone owners still stay far behind.
The importance of the internet as sales channel in the (smart)phone market shows different trends. The report shows that packages (SIM + smartphone) and separate smartphones are almost half of the time bought online. For separate smartphones the internet share shows a positive trend. In contrast, for packages the internet share is decreasing with 6 percentage point the past year. Further, physical shops remain the number one sales channel for feature phones and are even becoming more and more popular the past year.
This
report is based on the responses of over 12,000 participants in the Telecompaper Consumer Panel during the period January – March 2015. Results are CBS stratified for gender, age (12-80) and education. Every six months, we ask at least 10,000 consumers from our panel about their use of mobile telephony, broadband connections, fixed telephony, tablet and TV, including details on their current situation, purchasing habits, usage and churn.