Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) might be losing market share in the global market, as its share in global smartphone shipment has declined from 14.3% to 12.1%. But the tech giant continues to grow even stronger in the U.S. market. According to a new study by research firm NPD Group, 42% of the total smartphone users in the U.S. own an iPhone as of Q4, 2013. That’s an increase from 35% in Q4 2012.
Apple and Samsung lead widens
Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) also saw its user base growing from 22% to 26% in the same period. But the difference between the market share of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and its Korean rival has increased from 13% last year to 16% now. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) hoard almost all the profit in the smartphone industry. Every other major smartphone company is either operating at a loss, or has razor-thing margins. LG Electronics Inc. (KRX:066570) (KRX:066575) also saw a slight increase in its share year-over-year.
The study revealed that very few smartphone users own devices from other companies like BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB), Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V), HTC Corp (TPE:2498) or Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Motorola Mobility. In fact, Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (HEL:NOK1V) wasn’t even worth mentioning in the report. Its Windows Phone-based devices couldn’t entice U.S. customers. But the Finnish company saw improvements in emerging markets like Argentina, India and Russia.
Smartphone penetration rises
As expected, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) was the biggest loser in the given period, as its share declined by more than 65%. HTC and Motorola the were other two big losers. Though Motorola unveiled its first smartphone under Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Moto X, and promoted it heavily, the device failed miserably.
NPD Group said that smartphone penetration in the U.S. has increased from 52% in Q4 2012 to 60% in Q4 2013. Meanwhile, average data usage has also increased from 5.5GB to 6.6GB per month YoY. The increase in data consumption was mainly driven by the rising use of streaming music services like Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P). More than 52% of smartphone owners use a music streaming app, up from 41% in the same period a year ago.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock plummeted 0.95% to $549.05 at 10:52 AM EST.
