Apple Continues to Hold More Than Half of U.S. Smartphone Sales

Research firm Kantar Worldpanel today issued a report indicating that Apple continued to maintain its position as the best-selling smartphone platform in the United States during the fourth quarter of 2012. Kantar Worldpanel, which releases its rolling quarterly data on a monthly basis, indicated that Apple retook the lead from Android in the August-October period and gathered a majority share for the first time in the September-November period.

kantar dec12 us smartphones
Looking at year-over-year comparisons, iOS increased its market share in the final quarter of 2012 to 51.2% from 44.9% in the same quarter the previous year. Android sales remained almost constant at just over 44%, with nearly all of Apple's gains coming at the expense of Research in Motion and other smaller players.

“Apple’s continual improvement is thanks to both the iPhone 5 and older models attracting various customer groups, from repeat Apple buyers, first time smartphone buyers and those coming from other smartphone brands," said Kantar Worldpanel ComTech analyst Mary-Ann Parlato.

Kantar Worldpanel notes that 35% of Apple's sales during the period were to those upgrading from a previous iPhone, with 36% switching from a competitor platform and 30% upgrading from a feature phone to their first smartphone.

Kantar's data comes just as Verizon announced its results for the fourth quarter, revealing that the iPhone represented approximately 63% of the carrier's total smartphone activations.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

cook trump

Trump Responds to Apple Keeping Diversity Policies

Wednesday February 26, 2025 6:32 am PST by
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017 "APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote. Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
iOS 18

Apple Says iOS 18.4 Will Be Released in April With These New Features

Wednesday February 26, 2025 7:15 am PST by
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April. From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
iPhone Fold Vertical Feature

Apple's 2026 Foldable iPhone Has No Visible Display Crease – Report

Tuesday February 25, 2025 2:58 am PST by
Apple is making significant headway on its long-rumored foldable iPhone, with a new report suggesting the company has achieved a major breakthrough by effectively eliminating the screen crease that plagues current foldable devices. According to Korean publication ETNews, Apple is finalizing its component suppliers for the foldable iPhone, with the selection process expected to be completed...
trump iphone dictation issue

Apple Fixing 'Trump' Dictation Processing Bug

Tuesday February 25, 2025 1:18 pm PST by
Multiple iPhone owners today noticed a pronunciation processing issue that causes the word "Trump" to momentarily show up when using dictation to send a message with the word "racist." In some cases, when speaking the word racist through the iPhone's built-in dictation feature, the iPhone briefly interprets the spoken word as "Trump" and "Trump" text shows up in the Messages app before being ...
airpods pro purple

Here's When AirPods Pro 3 Are Rumored to Launch

Monday February 24, 2025 9:14 am PST by
According to a post on X today from a leaker known as Kosutami, Apple plans to launch AirPods Pro 3 in May or June this year. The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time. Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
airtag orange

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch in May or June With These New Features

Monday February 24, 2025 6:11 am PST by
Apple plans to launch a second-generation AirTag in May or June this year, according to a post today from a leaker known as Kosutami. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that a new AirTag would be released in mid-2025. May or June would align with that timeframe. Below, we recap three new features rumored for the AirTag 2: With a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, the...
ios 18 4 carplay

iOS 18.4 Includes a Small But Useful Change for CarPlay

Sunday February 23, 2025 2:23 pm PST by
The first beta of iOS 18.4 is now available, and it includes a small but useful change for CarPlay. As we noted in our list of iOS 18.4 features, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra, which can be equipped...

Top Rated Comments

RoelJuun Avatar
158 months ago
Wonder what the "Apple will die" crowd will say now.

The US is not their entire market.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
swarmster Avatar
158 months ago
So can someone tell me why my stock is trading below $500 this morning then?
AAPL is an extremely manipulated stock. Large brokerages short and release rumours and otherwise force the prices down, only to increase the pop later (maybe 4Q earnings this time?). The rumour mill and high price/volume makes it easy to ride up and down by hundreds of dollars if you're one of the big guys. I wouldn't take it as any reflection on Apple's actual performance.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Xgm541 Avatar
158 months ago
Wonder what the "Apple will die" crowd will say now.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
frayne182 Avatar
158 months ago
Thinking RIM will make a bigger comeback this year.


BB10 is looking damn good. No joke.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ForzaJuve Avatar
158 months ago
Aapl

So can someone tell me why my stock is trading below $500 this morning then?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JS82712 Avatar
158 months ago
This makes those idiots at WSJ look even more embarrassing.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)