“According to our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, mobile phone shipments grew 4 percent annually to reach 52 million units in the United States during the fourth quarter of 2012. Apple became the number one mobile phone vendor for the first time ever, capturing a record 34 percent market share,” Neil Mawston reports for Strategy Analytics.
“Mobile phone shipments grew 4 percent annually from 50.2 million units in Q4 2011 to 52.0 million in the United States in Q4 2012. The growth was driven by robust demand among consumers for 4G smartphones and 3G feature phones,” Mawston reports. “However, despite a solid fourth-quarter performance, the US mobile phone market had previously contracted 16 percent for the first three quarters of 2012 due to economic uncertainty and tighter carrier upgrade policies. As a result, US mobile phone shipments fell 11 percent from 186.8 million units in 2011 to 166.9 million in 2012.”
“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,” Mawston reports. “Apple has become the number one mobile phone vendor by volume in the United States for the first time ever.”
United States Mobile Phone Vendor Shipments and Market Share in Q4 2012
Numbers are rounded. The “mobile phone” market refers to the grand total of all smartphone shipments and all feature phone shipments combined.
“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,” Mawston reports. “Samsung shipped 16.8 million mobile phones in the United States, for 32 percent share, during Q4 2012. 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. Samsung had been the number one mobile phone vendor in the US since 2008…”
Mawston reports, “LG remains the third largest player in the US mobile phone market. We estimate LG shipped 4.7 million mobile phones for 9 percent share of the United States market in Q4 2012, dipping from 6.9 million units and 14 percent share a year earlier.”
Source: Strategy Analytics
MacDailyNews Take: It’s only right that the company that created the modern smartphone is #1, instead of some slavish copier.