iPhone 5 Bests Samsung Galaxy S3 in World - Could Be Same Ol'

The battle for the best in smartphone sales continues with a new report from Strategy Analytics showing the iPhone 5 as the best-selling smartphone of the last quarter of 2012 in the world.  However the world of consumers is fickle and another analyst suggests that the iPhone 5 may become a out-of-date.

Strategy Analytics reported that the iPhone returned to the spot as the top spot as best-selling smartphone in the world during the last quarter of 2012.

• Apple shipped  27.4 million units of iPhone 5 in Q4.
• Apple shipped 17.4 million iPhone 4S units.
• While Samsung shipped 15.4 million units of the Galaxy S III which was the number one smartphone over the summer.

Meanwhile, another analyst Raymond James at Travis McCourt that sales of the iPhone 5 could disappoint  and could become the "thing of the past" and  iPhone 5 as a flagship is nearer to the end than the beginning.

• The iPhone 4S impacted upgrades to the iPhone 5.When the iPhone 5 launched many customers had just upgraded to the iPhone 4S.
• LTE is not important in the rest of the world and the LTE component makes the iPhone 5 more expensive.
• Apple's screen is smaller than competitors.

The smartphone consumer is fickle and Apple should design a phone with a larger screen. In preliminary research with consumers is that the first complaint is that they want a larger screen which is more important than price.  U.S. sales are impressive but anemic internationally noted the analyst.

According to IDC, China is the largest smartphone market in the world with an expected 301.2 million units in 2013, followed by the US with 137.5 million units.

The Samsung Galaxy S III was named the top smartphone of 2012 by reviewers. The iPhone 5 was called the best iPhone, yet.

Most of the smartphones at AT&T sold in the fourth quarter were iPhones which was also true at Verizon Wireless.  Americans love their iPhones, for now.

The iPhone was launched in June 2007 and is now in its fifth year.  It changed the world of wireless completely.  How has the iPhone changed your life?  Leave your ideas in the comments below.