iPhone 5S Continues Reign as Top Selling Smartphone in the U.S.

For the third month in a row, Apple’s flagship iPhone 5S has taken the top selling smartphone title at every major wireless carrier in the U.S., AppleInsider is reporting. Meanwhile, the mid-range iPhone 5C has helped Apple take two of the top three sales slots at all the major carriers in the region.

According to data cited by Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley in a recent note to investors, ‘strong’ iPhone 5S sales and ‘steady’ iPhone 5C sales have helped Apple remain America’s top smartphone vendor in November. Before the two handsets were announced, Apple, Samsung, HTC, Nokia, Sony, and Motorola all had handsets enjoying top three sales slots at at least one of America’s big four carriers. But since their release in September, all but Samsung have been pushed out of the picture, whose flagship Galaxy S4 maintains the runner-up position across the board.

Apple has maintained a significant edge outside of the U.S. as well, even before the long-anticipated launch of the company’s devices on China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless carrier. The iPhone 5s was “by far the top selling smartphone…at most channels where the smartphone launched globally,” Walkley notes. 

The sales data also points to a strong showing for Apple’s iPad in November. Canaccord’s surveys “indicated strong Black Friday weekend iPad Air and new iPad mini sales…essentially at all channels where the iPads were available,”

The analyst has also raised his price target on Apple shares from $580 to $600, with revised iPhone shipment estimates of 54 million units during Q1 2014.