Apple Drops to Second Place in US Smartphone Sales Early 2013

Apple has ceded the lead as the top selling smartphone platform in the US to Android in early 2013, the most recent Kantar Worldpanel ComTech report says.

Although the iPhone was the best selling smartphone during the holiday quarter, its popularity among buyers seems to pale as Android had a great start this year: It regained the top spot in the three months ending January 2013, according to Kantar’s data, retaining 49.4% of smartphone sales back then.

The most recent study has found, however, that iOS dropped roughly 10% during the three month period ending February 2013 compared to the December quarter, as it retains a strong second place with 43.5% of smartphone sales, down 3.5% compared to a year prior.

Android, on the other hand, has grown nearly 5% compared to the same period last year, retaining more than half – 51.2% – of the total US smartphone sales. As Kantar Worldpanel ComTech analyst Mary-Ann Parlato points out, the increase was likely driven by Sprint’s high Samsung smartphone sales, thanks to Samsung’s price drop at the back end of 2012.

“Of those who changed their phone over the last year to a Samsung smartphone, 19% had previously owned a Samsung featurephone, 15% owned a HTC smartphone, 14% owned an LG featurephone, 10% owned a Samsung smartphone and 9% owned a BlackBerry,” Parlato added.