Apple has become the leading U.S. mobile-phone vendor for the first time last quarter, securing a record 34% of market share, and knocking rival Samsung off the top spot.The Cupertino, Calif., company shipped 17.7 million phones during the fourth quarter, growing 4% annually, according to a new report by research firm Strategy Analytics. For comparison; that number jumped from 12.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, when Apple captured 25% of the market.
"Apple's success has been driven by its popular ecosystem of iPhones and App Store, generous carrier subsidies, and extensive marketing around the new iPhone 5 model," the report said."Apple's success has been driven by its popular ecosystem of iPhones and App Store, generous carrier subsidies, and extensive marketing around the new iPhone 5 model," the report said.
Samsung took second place in the last quarter of 2012, shipping 16.8 million phones for 32% market share. The Korean electronics giant had been the top mobile-phone vendor in the U.S. since 2008, but failed to fight Apple off despite what Strategy Analytics called a "good performance."Taking the third spot, LG shipped 4.7 million phones for 9% share.
"Growth was driven by robust demand among consumers for 4G smartphones and 3G feature phones."
This boost, however, is tempered by the fact that the U.S. mobile-phone market had shrunk during the first three quarters of 2012 due to "economic uncertainty and tighter carrier upgrade policies," the report added, saying that shipments fell 11% from 186.8 million phones in 2011 to 166.9 million in 2012.
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