With rave reviews of HTC’s newest smartphone, the HTC One, continuing to populate the Web, some analysts are predicting the device will dramatically improve the company’s long-term prospects after several years of receding market share. HTC’s most prominent competitor within the North American Android marketplace, Samsung, also recently released its own new smartphone model, the Samsung Galaxy S IV. With both Samsung and HTC largely eyeing the same target market, Chitika Insights looked to explore the initial adoption rates of both devices to quantify the early market progress of each smartphone.
After delays due to supply chain issues, the HTC One became available for purchase in North America through Sprint and AT&T on April 19th, 2013. With rave reviews of HTC’s newest smartphone continuing to populate the Web, some analysts are predicting the device will dramatically improve the company’s long-term prospects after several years of receding market share.
HTC’s most prominent competitor within the North American Android marketplace, Samsung, released its own new smartphone model nearly one week later, with the Samsung Galaxy S IV hitting Sprint store shelves on April 27th, 2013 after an online-only preorder period. The latest in the Korean company’s popular series of flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S IV subsequently debuted at AT&T and T-Mobile stores on April 27th and May 1st, respectively.
Both smartphones represent a tremendous investment for each company, and with each touting a variety of top of the line features, both Samsung and HTC are largely eyeing the same target market. Chitika Insights looked to explore the initial adoption rates of both devices to quantify the early market progress of each smartphone.
To quantify this study, Chitika Insights examined a sample of tens of millions of U.S. and Canadian smartphone-based online ad impressions seen over the Chitika ad network. These data sets ranged from April 19th to May 6th, 2013 for the HTC One, and from April 26th to May 6th, 2013 for the Samsung Galaxy S IV. A user agent analysis was then conducted to identify:
North American usage rates of the HTC One:
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- As compared to overall continental smartphone traffic
- As compared to continental HTC smartphone traffic
North American usage rates of the Samsung Galaxy S IV:
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- As compared to overall continental smartphone traffic
- As compared to continental Samsung Galaxy S-specific smartphone traffic
- Segmented by carrier variant
Graphs depicting this data can be seen below:
The HTC One has started to make its mark in the smartphone market despite limited availability. As supply of the HTC One catches up to meet demand, along with the rumored launch on the Verizon network, the One may prove to be the savior of the HTC name. However, in comparison with the Samsung Galaxy S IV usage figures, it’s evident that HTC still has ground to make up competitively.
The Galaxy S IV seems to already be picking up where the popular Galaxy S III left off, achieving a 0.19% share of overall smartphone traffic 10 days following launch – more than twice the share of the HTC One within the same timeframe. With its impressive present growth rate, along with the upcoming Verizon launch of the device, it’s likely that the Samsung Galaxy S IV will become the latest hit device for the Korean company.
Samsung’s track record in the marketplace gives it a distinct advantage within the Android ecosystem. In the short term, Samsung’s larger marketing budget is also likely to give it the edge when it comes to selling its latest smartphone, as compared to HTC.
