Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) still lead the smartphone market. A recent report from NPD Market shows that both smartphone makers make up about 68% of the market in the United States.
Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy continue to lead
Not surprisingly, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone rose up to 42% in the fourth quarter. That is 7% more than the previous year. Similarly, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) rose from last year’s 22% to 26% this year.
As Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung continue to gain shares, their competitors continue to sink further. Canadian phone maker BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) saw its shares fall two-thirds, making it the biggest loser. Motorola and HTC also had some significant losses.
Similar report confirms findings
This recent study from NPD Market is very similar to ComScore’s report from earlier this year. Using survey results from cell phone users from September through November 2013, it was discovered Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share increased 0.5 percent and that gave it a total share of 41.2%. Android’s total share is higher as 51.9%. Their report elaborated, “152.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (63.8 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in November, up 3 percent since August. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) ranked as the top OEM with 41.2 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers (up 0.5 percentage points from August). Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) ranked second with 26 percent market share (up 1.7 percentage points), followed by Motorola with 6.7 percent, LG with 6.5 percent and HTC with 6.4 percent.”
Their results also show that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) are the lead companies in the smartphone market. They also mentioned BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB), Symbian, and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) lost the most shares during that period.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung continue to dominate the market but that doesn’t stop the competition. Both tech giants want to be in the lead and subsequently, take their battles to court for patent infringements. The competition between both tech companies is highly unlikely to slow down anytime soon, however there are reports the companies are in talks concerning a potential truce.
