As reported on Engadget.
By Mat Smith
Strategy Analytics have shared the state of the global smartphone OS market, but today it’s focused specifically on the US, where the iPhone 5 helped Apple to reclaimthe last quarter from Samsung. iPhone claimed 34 percent of vendor shipments in the last quarter, while Samsung’s smartphone range wasn’t far behind with 32.3 percent. Apple’s resurgence with its new smartphone couldn’t catch up with Samsung’s lead earlier in the year, however, with the Korean phone-maker commanding a 31.8 percent share of all smartphones shipped over the last 12 months. Apple was next with 26.2 percent, while LG came third with 12.3 percent of all phones sold.
The analytics firm reckons that 52 million devices were shipped in Q4, increasing just short of 2 million units since the same period last year. However, it also noted that annual sales in the US were actually less than in 2012 than in the preceding year, dropping just under 20 million units in the interim. Strategy Analytics pointed the finger at economic uncertainty and tougher carrier upgrade policies for the drop in shipments.
