Apple has become the top mobile phone vendor in the US by shipping 17.7 million phones during the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to 12.8 million phones it shipped during the corresponding period in 2011, according to a report by Strategy Analytics.
Apple secured a 34% market share in the mobile phone market in the country, up from 25% in the same period of 2011.
The company took the ‘number one’ crown in the country for the first time and its shipment was mainly driven by its popular ecosystem of iPhones and App Store, generous carrier subsidies, and extensive marketing around the new iPhone 5 model, the report added.
Apple’s rival Samsung shipped 16.8 million phones during the quarter, compared to 13.5 million phones it had shipped during the prior year quarter, taking 32.3% market share.
LG was at third place shipping 4.7 million devices in the last quarter of 2012 compared to 6,9 million shipment recorded during the same period last year.
During the quarter, mobile phone shipments grew 4% from 50.2 million units in Q4 2011 to 52 million in Q4 2012 on the back of healthy demand among consumers for 4G smartphones and 3G feature phones.
Mobile shipments during the entire year however declined 11% from 186.8 million units in 2011 to 166.9 million in 2012.
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Globally Samsung shipped 63 million phones during Q4 2012, accounting for over 30% of all smartphones shipped during the quarter, while Apple shipped 47.8 million iPhones.
