Apple extends lead over Samsung, gains on Google in U.S. smartphone market

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
According to a fresh report from comScore, Apple has shown positive growth in the important U.S. smartphone market for the first months of 2013, boosting hardware shipments to outpace rival Samsung and eating up mobile OS share to the detriment of Google's Android.

Smartphone Share
Source: comScore


The market analytics firm reported the most recent from its MobiLens service on Thursday, showing Apple gained 3.9 percent in both smartphone hardware and operating system market share during the three-month period ending in February. From November 2012 to February 2013, Apple's share of the handset market went from 35 percent to 38.9, while iOS made the same change.

Major rival Samsung also saw gains, but only managed 1 percent growth, a little over one fourth of Apple's performance. The Korean electronics giant's share rose to 21.3 percent of the U.S. market, up from 20.3 percent in November.

Apple and Samsung were the only top 5 handset makers to exhibit growth during the three-month period, with HTC, Motorola and LG losing respective market shares of 1.7 percent, 1.1 percent and 0.2 percent.

OS Share


As for the mobile OS space, Google still leads the sector with a 51.7 percent stake, but suffered another monthly decline, this time dropping 2 percent. Apple came in second with a 38.9 percent share of all U.S. smartphone subscribers, while BlackBerry, Microsoft and Symbian rounded out the top 5.

In its analysis, comScore surveyed over 30,000 mobile subscribers in the U.S., and notes smartphone penetration has grown 8 percent since November, with 133.7 million handsets in service as of February.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 35
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    WS spin: Apple barely hold lead
    Fandroids spin: they must have surveyed the same fanboys multiple times.

    Of course all surveys are only as reliable as their methodology.
  • Reply 2 of 35
    vorsosvorsos Posts: 302member


    No, this is a pretty clear indicator that the beleaguered Apple cannot possibly maintain its market position. Just look at all the iPhone-killers that came out this week alone.

  • Reply 3 of 35
    pedromartinspedromartins Posts: 1,333member


    Seriously, I'm tired of this BS.


     


    Apple makes a lot of money, android is great on its own away. Is the iPhone and iPad the absolutely best? Of course. Does Apple make a lot of money? Of course. Does Android have more Market Share? Yes.


    So what?


     


    It's such a great time we are having. Remember the Nokia years on phones and MS on PCs? We won't have that again. How much money must Apple do for people to be happy? How many activations for Android?


    Apple is just to big and powerful to go away. Same for the Android industry, they have 0 alternatives.


     


    I would love if AI stopped the digitimes rumours, the analysts BS, this sort of bait, and become a little more technically oriented.

  • Reply 4 of 35
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    Doesn't seem that Google's $12 billion investment in Motorola was a good idea.
  • Reply 5 of 35
    rayzrayz Posts: 814member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pedromartins View Post


    Seriously, I'm tired of this BS.


     


    Apple makes a lot of money, android is great on its own away. Is the iPhone and iPad the absolutely best? Of course. Does Apple make a lot of money? Of course. Does Android have more Market Share? Yes.


    So what?


     


    It's such a great time we are having. Remember the Nokia years on phones and MS on PCs? We won't have that again. How much money must Apple do for people to be happy? How many activations for Android?


    Apple is just to big and powerful to go away. Same for the Android industry, they have 0 alternatives.


     


    I would love if AI stopped the digitimes rumours, the analysts BS, this sort of bait, and become a little more technically oriented.



     


    Wouldn't that be great? Someone told me that this site used to be much better: rumours and stories culled through insight and research, rather than just lifting content (almost word for word) from other sites in an embarrassingly transparent effort to cultivate hits through troll-whoring.


     


    Very sad.


     


    In recent months they've managed to sink lower than MacRumours, and that must've taken some doing.

  • Reply 6 of 35
    pedromartinspedromartins Posts: 1,333member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rayz View Post


     


    Wouldn't that be great? Someone told me that this site used to be much better: rumours and stories culled through insight and research, rather than just lifting content (almost word for word) from other sites in an embarrassingly transparent effort to cultivate hits through troll-whoring.


     


    Very sad.


     


    In recent months they've managed to sink lower than MacRumours, and that must've taken some doing.



    I would take less articles/news for better ones.


     


    Analysts know 0 about tech and strategies from anyone that is trying to push things for the best. Why listen to them? They only know about "market share". For them, selling a thousand potatoes for free until you have to close doors is better than selling 500 for 20 dollars.


     


    Apple's ecosystem is so rich, so great, we have so much things to discuss/discover (as a regular users). Why not focus on that? Create a section for developers, places to discuss ideas, change opinions, etc. This sort of "digitimes" rumours and market share wars need to stop. They are stupid and have 0 relevance.


     


    Dear AI,


     


    Focus on better articles (about products, your own opinions (DED is great), the industry) and do more research. Also, provide a better plataform for us, users. The forums are disgusting (the whole site, actually), the level of articles is very low. Also, we need more and better moderation. With time, such implementations will bring more and better users and the "low level" (that appears more and more) will go away.


    If AI becomes a place for discussing and learning, expect nothing short of wonders for everyone.

  • Reply 7 of 35
    herbapouherbapou Posts: 2,228member
    I was worried apple sales would collapse. I am hoping they can mantain last year levels, they may be able to pull it off afterall,
  • Reply 8 of 35
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    rayz wrote: »
    Wouldn't that be great? Someone told me that this site used to be much better: rumours and stories culled through insight and research, rather than just lifting content (almost word for word) from other sites in an embarrassingly transparent effort to cultivate hits through troll-whoring.

    Very sad.

    In recent months they've managed to sink lower than MacRumours, and that must've taken some doing.

    These sites kinda got screwed when Apple refreshed their entire product line in one day. So we get fluff instead of anything of substance for the time being.
  • Reply 9 of 35
    ankleskaterankleskater Posts: 1,287member
    jungmark wrote: »
    WS spin: Apple barely hold lead
    Fandroids spin: they must have surveyed the same fanboys multiple times.

    Of course all surveys are only as reliable as their methodology.

    If your wife told you she loved you, do you reply with one of the following:

    "But your mother still thinks I am a loser."
    "But your sisters think you married me on the rebound."
    "But our neighbours still think I continue to have trouble in bed."
    "But you only love me for my money."

    No, scratch that last one because you don't act like someone who is secure about anything.

    Moral of the story: why not just enjoy news for they are.
  • Reply 10 of 35
    ankleskaterankleskater Posts: 1,287member
    Seriously, I'm tired of this BS.

    Apple makes a lot of money, android is great on its own away. Is the iPhone and iPad the absolutely best? Of course. Does Apple make a lot of money? Of course. Does Android have more Market Share? Yes.
    So what?

    It's such a great time we are having. Remember the Nokia years on phones and MS on PCs? We won't have that again. How much money must Apple do for people to be happy? How many activations for Android?
    Apple is just to big and powerful to go away. Same for the Android industry, they have 0 alternatives.

    I would love if AI stopped the digitimes rumours, the analysts BS, this sort of bait, and become a little more technically oriented.

    Seriously, I'm tired of the BS.

    Stories about market share bore me, too. So what?

    It's such a great time we are having. We can actually choose from a variety of news sources and ignore the stories that bore us.

    I would love if people would stop whining about AI stories, the complaints, the fights and become more respectful of those who want to enjoy each story for what they are without the white noise.
  • Reply 11 of 35
    ankleskaterankleskater Posts: 1,287member
    herbapou wrote: »
    I was worried apple sales would collapse. I am hoping they can mantain last year levels, they may be able to pull it off afterall,

    Now there is a comment I like.
  • Reply 12 of 35
    ankleskaterankleskater Posts: 1,287member
    jd_in_sb wrote: »
    Doesn't seem that Google's $12 billion investment in Motorola was a good idea.

    Maybe.

    Or maybe it was brilliant because, by spending their growing cash pile early, they will never run into Apple's problem of shareholders whining not getting their hands on it.
  • Reply 13 of 35
    jollypauljollypaul Posts: 328member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pedromartins View Post


    It's such a great time we are having.



     


    Not me. I have an uneasy feeling... no wait. That was just gas.

  • Reply 14 of 35
    kdarlingkdarling Posts: 1,640member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jd_in_sb View Post



    Doesn't seem that Google's $12 billion investment in Motorola was a good idea.


     


    About that $12.5 billion price...


     


    Google is selling the Motorola Home division (cable box, etc) for $2.4 billion to another group.  


     


    According to Forbes, Google also gets to write off almost a billion a year for seven years, in taxes and acquisition costs.  They say it brings the net cost down to $1.5 billion.


     


    Even better, Motorola Mobility came with $3 billion in cash reserves. They can lose money for years without asking Google for help.


     


    So basically, the cost is nothing to Google.  In return, they get a phone maker and all its patents.

  • Reply 15 of 35
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jungmark View Post

    WS spin: Apple barely hold lead

    Fandroids spin: they must have surveyed the same fanboys multiple times.



    Of course all surveys are only as reliable as their methodology.

     

    Why is it you think that only Apple fans are the people with any sense? You've got high tier and low tier (read cheap) Android phones -- and two huge releases form Samsung and HTC and Backberry not too long ago -- and Apple has 4 times the growth.

     

    If you wanted to make the point that Apple fans will always look at the Apple glass as half full -- you probably should have picked a situation where the glass wasn't filling at a rate 4 times that of the Android glass. Or are you just an Apple HateDroid and you always make these comments?
  • Reply 16 of 35
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KDarling View Post

     

    About that $12.5 billion price...

     

    Google is selling the Motorola Home division (cable box, etc) for $2.4 billion to another group.  

     

    According to Forbes, Google also gets to write off almost a billion a year for seven years, in taxes and acquisition costs.  They say it brings the net cost down to $1.5 billion.

     

    Even better, Motorola Mobility came with $3 billion in cash reserves. They can lose money for years without asking Google for help.

     

    So basically, the cost is nothing to Google.  In return, they get a phone maker and all its patents.

     

    Great. Google already pays ZERO tax - and then they get a write-off. Still, there's about $6 Billion to amortize here -- and if it weren't coming completely out of the taxpayers pocket, it would still be an opportunity cost for that money that could be doing something useful. Doesn't seem like a win here.
  • Reply 17 of 35
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Why is it you think that only Apple fans are the people with any sense? You've got high tier and low tier (read cheap) Android phones -- and two huge releases form Samsung and HTC and Backberry not too long ago -- and Apple has 4 times the growth.

    If you wanted to make the point that Apple fans will always look at the Apple glass as half full -- you probably should have picked a situation where the glass wasn't filling at a rate 4 times that of the Android glass. Or are you just an Apple HateDroid and you always make these comments?

    It's sarcasm. I figure "spin" would have tipped it off.
  • Reply 18 of 35
    robogoborobogobo Posts: 378member
    Dooomed!
  • Reply 19 of 35
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    kdarling wrote: »
    About that $12.5 billion price...

    <span style="line-height:1.231;">Google is selling the Motorola Home division (cable box, etc) for $2.4 billion to another group.  </span>


    According to Forbes, Google also gets to write off almost a billion a year for seven years, in taxes and acquisition costs.  <span style="line-height:1.231;">They say it brings the net cost down to $1.5 billion.</span>


    Even better, Motorola Mobility came with $3 billion in cash reserves. They can lose money for years without asking Google for help.

    So basically, the cost is nothing to Google.  In return, they get a phone maker and all its patents.

    Hint - a 'write-off'' does not reduce your taxes 1:1. If you have an incremental tax rate of 35%, a billion dollar writeoff is only worth $350 M.
  • Reply 20 of 35
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member


    These figures show Android has obviously plateaued and is beginning to drop, meanwhile iOS is still growing.

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