Take That, Samsung: Apple Is Now The Top Phone Vendor In US

We’ve heard, and reported on quite a few “the sky is falling” stories concerning Apple in recent weeks. However, a new survey from Strategy Analytics suggests that things aren't nearly as bad as many believe. During the holiday quarter, Apple shipped more iPhones in the U.S. than all of Samsung’s handsets combined. Surprisingly, this is the first time that Apple has done so. Since 2008, Samsung has been the market leader in the U.S. in terms of the number of smartphones and so-called feature phones shipped. From October through December, Apple is said to have shipped 17.7 million iPhone units in the U.S. This compared to Samsung’s 16.8 million units. For all of 2012, Samsung led with 53.0 million units shipped, compared to Apple’s 43.7 million. For the year, Samsung still reigned with 31.8 percent of all shipments. Apple’s share was 26.2 percent during the same time period. Strategy Analysts says that the final quarter of 2012 saw Apple with 34 percent of the mobile phone market, compared to 32.3 percent for Samsung. This compared to 25.4 percent, and 26.9 percent, respectively in 2011.

Keep in mind that these numbers are estimates. Neither company releases country-specific sales figures. If fact, in the case of Samsung, they don't report sales figures for any of their smartphones. However, Apple has said that they sold a record 47.8 million iPhones worldwide during the last three months of 2012. This was a 29 percent increase year over year. According to the report:

This was a good performance from Samsung, as its market share rose 5 points from 27 percent a year earlier, but it was not enough to hold off a surging Apple.

Perhaps the biggest news here is that this is the first time that Apple beat Samsung in the U.S. in terms of phones shipped. One would have thought that Apple would have surpassed Samsung at least one other time since 2008. Nonetheless, this is great news for Apple, if only for bragging rights going forward. See also: Worldwide iPhone Shipments Rose 46.9 Percent In 2012 and Samsung’s Next Smartphone Could Make Us Soon Forget The iPhone’s Retina Display. Source: Strategy Analytics

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