Apple reaches its highest share of Britain’s smartphone market thanks to the iPhone 6, says research.

It had 39.5% of UK sales for the three months to October 2014, compared to 29.1% in the same period in 2013. The research by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows that Android sales are still ahead at 52.3%, although that’s a fall compared to the 54.6% market share for the three months to October 2013.

Windows is in third place, but has seen a decline in market share. The most recent figures show it accounted for 7.7% of UK sales compared to 12% for the three months ending October 2013.

Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, said: “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.

“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.”

Typically, 16 to 24-year-olds were early adopters of the iPhone 6 in the UK (34% of sales) and men (64%). Interestingly the iPhone 6 outsold the 6 Plus by a 4:1 ratio, according to the research findings.