Despite Android's surge in the worldwide smartphone market over the past few years, Apple's new iPhone 6 series seems to have breathed some much-needed momentum into iOS's popularity, according to new market data.

According to market analytics firm Kantar Worldpanel, the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones have boosted Apple's slumping popularity in major markets around the world.

Apple's iPhone 6 Plus captured 41 percent of phablet sales in the United States during the three-month period ending October 2014. It's important to note that the iPhone 6 Plus released in September, and Kantar defines phablets as devices with screens of 5.5 inches or larger. The iPhone 6 Plus sports a 5.5-inch display. Phablet sales made up 10 percent of smartphone sales, an increase of 2 percent from the same time period in 2013.

Size seems to have been the driving factor for the iPhone 6 lineup's popularity. According to Kantar, 58 percent of those surveyed chose the iPhone 6 Plus because of its size. Even the smaller 4.7-inch iPhone 6 lured in buyers with its size, with 60 percent of those surveyed saying size was the determining factor. The second-most important characteristic for both groups surveyed was the ability to connect to 4G/LTE networks.

"Apple has experienced a huge jump in sales share across almost all major markets thanks to the launch of the iPhone 6. In major European economies, the US and Australia, Apple's share of sales has risen," said Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. "This success is particularly evident in Great Britain where Apple now has its highest ever share of sales with 39.5%. Most of these sales were driven by loyal Apple users. Some 86% of British buyers upgraded from an older iPhone model, only 5% switched across from Samsung."

Although the data is encouraging for Apple, which finally released a smartphone with a display larger than 4 inches for the first time ever (all iPhones up until the iPhone 5 were 3.5 inches, and the iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, and iPhone 5c were the only 4-inch models), Apple sales in the United States rose only 0.7 percent during the three months leading up to October compared the same period one year ago. Verizon and AT&T dominated iPhone 6 sales, with each carrier garnering a little over 40 percent of total iPhone 6 sales. AT&T, however, seems to be bigger hit with the phablet crowd, snatching up 63 percent of the iPhone 6 Plus sales.

Kantar data also shows that the iPhone 6 outsold the iPhone 6 Plus by a ratio of 3:1, with the larger phablet being more popular with the older crowd.

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