27 percent of smartphone buyers in Europe switched from Android to iOS this summer

As the latest sign that Apple’s iOS is gaining momentum, a new report says that European smartphone buyers are defecting away from Android in favor of iPhones.

Kantar Worldpanel ComTech today released its latest market research for the three months ending in July. The report indicates that overall, Android is seeing a decline in its market share in Europe’s five biggest countries.

[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1795722,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,mobile,","session":"A"}']

In general, those markets have become quite saturated — the number of smartphones sold to first-time buyers declined to 25 percent from 29 percent for the same period last year.

That means the battle is increasingly for people’s next smartphone purchase. And in that scenario, the news is good for Apple, and not so good for Android.

According to Kantar, 27 percent of smartphone buyers in Europe during those three months switched from Android to iOS. That’s a much higher rate than in the U.S., where 9 percent of Android users defected to iOS.

Kantar said Android’s problems could be compounded in the coming months as Apple unveils its new iPhones. The firm noted that this move will likely lead to a price drop for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, two versions that have already been hugely popular and could get a new boost.