Depending upon the research, the winner of the Apple iPhone vs Android market share race changes. ComScore's market share report ranked by subscribers shows the Apple market share increased in February.
This makes sense because new smartphone owners, are later adopters, and when Grandma or a newbie buys a smartphone, they are told by their friends and relatives to get an iPhone, because it's easier to use. The figure includes December when iPhones were popular holiday gifts.
Samsung is gaining traction especially in subscriber numbers. During the three months ending in February, Apple was the top smartphone maker with 38.9 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers, Samsung was second with 21.3 percent market share (up 1 percentage point), followed by HTC with 9.3 percent share, Motorola with 8.4 percent and LG with 6.8 percent. BlackBerry dropped from 7.3% to 5.4% while Windows Phone grew from 3% to 3.2%.
Android lost a few points from November in platform market share formerly at 53.7% it went down to 51.7% while Apples' iPhone grew from 35% to 38.9%.
| Top Smartphone Platforms 3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2013 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Nov. 2012 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens |
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| Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers | |||
| Nov-12 | Feb-13 | Point Change | |
| Total Smartphone Subscribers | 100.0% | 100.0% | N/A |
| 53.7% | 51.7% | -2.0 | |
| Apple | 35.0% | 38.9% | 3.9 |
| BlackBerry | 7.3% | 5.4% | -1.9 |
| Microsoft | 3.0% | 3.2% | 0.2 |
| Symbian | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.0 |
| Top Smartphone OEMs 3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2013 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Nov. 2012 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens |
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| Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers | |||
| Nov-12 | Feb-13 | Point Change | |
| Total Mobile Subscribers | 100.0% | 100.0% | N/A |
| Apple | 35.0% | 38.9% | 3.9 |
| Samsung | 20.3% | 21.3% | 1.0 |
| HTC | 11.0% | 9.3% | -1.7 |
| Motorola | 9.5% | 8.4% | -1.1 |
| LG | 7.0% | 6.8% | -0.2 |
On the other hand, total Android sales however are a different story, according to Kantar Worldpanel Android sales were 51.2% in the three months ending in February. The top carrier to sell Android was Sprint attributed to huge discounts on Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets.