Submitted by Frank Macey on
Apple surpassed multi-year leader Samsung to become the top selling mobile phone vendor in the US during the fourth quarter of 2012. Strategy Analytics estimates that Apple sold a whopping 17.7 million mobile phones for a record 34 percent market share. Samsung fell to second place with 16.8 million phones shipped in the same period, adding up to 32 percent of the US market.
According to NPD Group, the iPhone 5 was the top selling smartphone in the US during the last quarter, followed by the Samsung Galaxy S III. The iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and Samsung Galaxy S II were in third, fourth and fifth place respectively. There's nothing like a new product launch right before the holidays to drive sales. The iPhone 5 made up 43 percent of all iPhone sales, and accounted for almost two thirds of all post-paid smartphones above $199.
Samsung was the top seller of mobile phones for over 4 years running, and will look to recapture the spot from Apple with its upcoming release of the Galaxy S IV this spring. LG held onto its position as the third largest mobile phone seller in the US, with 4.7 million units accounting for 9 percent market share.
Apple and Samsung have been duking it our for years, and the two companies currently account for almost 70 percent of all smartphone sales in the US. The mobile phone market has overwhelmingly moved away from standard mobile phones, with 81 percent of sales during the last quarter of 2012 represented by smartphones.