The mobile device market in Australia has been and continues to be dominated by Apple phones; the company has had a comfortable market lead since 2011 with a share always in excess of 50 percent.
As of March 2022, Android operating systems for smartphones held a market share of 53.6 percent in Australia. Android has consistently been the leading mobile phone operating system in the country, however, iOS has been increasing its market share over the past decade.
Apple's iPhone still dominate the Australian market
Apple saw a small 0.6% increase year-on-year (claiming 44.2% of the market in Q1 2023), while Samsung experienced a drop of 13.2% (with 35.1% in 2023's first quarter).
The iPhone now has 46.2 per cent of Australian phone sales, compared with 53.8 per cent for the entire Android market.
In the US, the same device costs just $US699, more than 12 percent cheaper. This places Australia at 18th cheapest in the world, with the US (specifically Los Angeles), Hong Kong and Japan being the cheapest place in the world to buy the new iPhone.
It brings the total number of iPhone users in Australia to 8.6 million, or 45 per cent of the 19.3 million smartphone users in Australia. That put it ahead of Samsung, OPPO and Huawei as the nation's most popular smartphone brand.
Apple's iOS, however, reigns supreme in the United States. Android takes the top spot at 70.89% market share globally, beating iOS by a 42.53% difference with a 28.36% market share. Meanwhile, in the US, Apple continues to dominate at 57.39% market share, beating Android by a 15.12% difference.
Chances are your mobile phone will work in Australia, however, you have a few different options if you want to stay connected during your travels - activate your international roaming (or your mobile phone's data roaming plan), connect to local wifi, or purchase an Australian SIM card and join a local network.
There are only three cell networks in Australia: Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. According to the link Stephen posted, T Mobile uses all three. You should therefore get coverage everywhere.
So the answer is – yes, an iPhone purchased in America should work in Australia, if it's one of the later models. The more recent iPhone versions (beginning with the 5 series) work over a very wide range of frequencies, making them compatible with networks in almost all countries. Will it work?
It might be more than you think. In fact, we surveyed 1000 Australians, and the average Aussie spends 5.67 a day on their phone—that's up from 5.5 hours each day compared to last year.
Research from Canstar Blue has even found that the average price Aussies are spending on their smartphone (when buying outright) is $913 — which is creeping up to the $1,000+ premium price tag. But the good news is that you don't have to pay thousands for a quality phone.
Because of time zone differences, it's already September 16 (aka iPhone launch day) in Australia and New Zealand, which means customers in these countries who preordered a new iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, or iPhone 14 Pro Max are beginning to receive their devices.
The Australian quoted price includes all taxes, while in the US, tax is added later (so you never know how much something really costs until you buy it). Also, Apple (and other importers) need to set prices in local currency that make sense even if the exchange rate changes. Finally, people will pay more in Australia.
Apple became the first company to reach $3 trillion in market value, which is more than the GDP of India, the UK and France. Apple's, market share has hit nearly $3 trillion and this figure is higher than the GDP of entire countries like Italy, Canada, Australia and Brazil.
This means $1.00 USD is equivalent to approximately $1.40 AUD on average. Currently $1.00 US dollar to the Australian dollar is equivalent to $1.46 AUD. Comparing Australian currency to the United States dollar, $1.00 Australian dollar is equivalent to $0.68 USD.
Active iPhone units in US
There are just under 150 million active iPhone units in the United States, making Apple by far the most popular smartphone manufacturer and ahead of all Android device manufacturers combined.
China produces the world's largest number of apples, followed by the United States, Poland, Italy and France. Famous for their health benefits, apples are grown in almost every country.
China and India, the world's two most populous countries, the iPhone holds market shares of 24.32% and 3.92% respectively, with Android's shares reaching and 74.98% and 95.26%.