Apple Overtakes Samsung to Become Largest Mobile Phone Vendor in U.S.

Apple overtook Samsung as the market leader in mobile phones in the United States for the final quarter of 2012, reports Strategy Analytics, though Samsung still led for the year as a whole. The development marks the first time Apple has held the top spot in overall mobile phone shipments.

apple-samsung
The technology analysts estimate that a total of 52 million mobile phones were shipped in the U.S. last quarter, with Apple accounting for 17.7 million of them, Samsung for 16.8 million and LG a distant third with 4.7 million. Samsung had held the top spot since 2008 before being dethroned by Apple.

Strategy Analytics Executive Director Neil Mawston said:

We estimate Apple shipped 17.7 million mobile phones for a record 34 percent share of the United States market in the fourth quarter of 2012. This was up sharply from 12.8 million units shipped and 25 percent share in Q4 2011. Apple has become the number one mobile phone vendor by volume in the United States for the first time ever. 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 firm believes, however, that Samsung may retake the title when it launches its rumored Galaxy S4.

Meantime, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit yesterday rejected Apple's renewed attempt to ban sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, as noted by AllThingsD. Apple was initially awarded an injunction which prohibited sales of the Nexus in the long-running patent battle between the two companies, but this was overturned in October. This now exhausts Apple's appeal options, making the latest decision final.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

slesnick3 Avatar
155 months ago
Not Really ... Title Misleading

Just pointing out that Apple took the lead for the last quarter most likely due to the timing of the release of the Iphone 5. Samsung was still significantly ahead for the entire year. The title of this article is a bit misleading and reads as though this is some sort of mega competition ala Super Bowl.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cxny Avatar
155 months ago
oh no! More good news, AAPL will take a pounding...
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
c0venant Avatar
155 months ago
Samsung has like, a bajillion different phones for sale. Apple releases one phone per year.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mmikuta Avatar
155 months ago
Here it Comes, Another Thread Obsessing on the Wrong Thing

Time to shift the conversation. Apple is no longer in danger of going out of business like is was in the 90's. This was Steve's greatest accomplishment. Apple now has the ecosystem to carry it long into the future. Let others obsess with profits and marketshare. We want continued great design and polished innovation. The rest will take of itself.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
brdeveloper Avatar
155 months ago
Only in USA, at christmas time. Nice stats, they really clarify the market's reality.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lazard Avatar
155 months ago
The Important figure here is the YOY growth for Apple and the lack of said growth for Samsung. It also should be mentioned that Apple only has 3 phones for sale, while Samsung has like ~10x that amount on the market.
you're disregarding the fact that if a person wants iOS, they only have one choice, Apple. If a person wants Android, they have the option of Samsung, Motorola, HTC, Sony, LG, etc. So for you to argue about the discrepancy of models offered by each company is a moot point.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)