Apple Moves Up to No.2 behind Samsung in US Mobile Market Share

For all the huge sales, the billions of dollars of revenue, the spaceship campuses, iPads, iPods and iPhones, Apple still lagged behind LG in terms of the US mobile market share. Well, that has changed, at least for this past quarter. Samsung leads the way in terms of mobile market share across the US and by a comfortable margin. Apple’s phenomenal success over the years, especially this year, has enabled it to overtake LG to become the No.2 behind Samsung.

Samsung & Apple’s flagship models the SIII and iPhone 5

Apple Gains A Few Points over LG

Over the years, Apple has been among the top five mobile vendors in the US, but has failed to go past third spot. For a while it was behind Motorola at No.4. The recent sales reports published have shown that Apple is now in second position, albeit by only a few points. According to the data provided, Apple’s market share of the US mobile market rose from 16.3% to jump to 17.8%. The bumper quarter for Apple pushed LG down the pecking order, with its market share going from 18.4% to 17.6%.

That means there is just a 0.2% difference between the sales made by LG and Apple in the previous quarter. However, the telling statistic is that Apple managed to overcome a gap of 2% and turn it into a lead. With the holiday season coming up, Apple is bound to sell a lot of iPhones and other devices and is expected to consolidate its current position in the market. Samsung is far away at 26.3% and Apple needs to have a super year to get near to that figure.

26.9 Million iPhones Sold

The reason Apple was able to increase its market share considerably over the period of three months was due to the outstanding sales of iPhones. In the three months from July to September, the company managed to sell 26.9 million iPhones. That figure is superb especially when you consider Wall Street had forecasted a sale of around 25 million. In the same quarter last year, Apple sold almost 60% less iPhones than it did this time round.

A large chunk of the sales can be attributed to the iPhone 5. Released at the backend of September, the smartphone sold like hot cakes in the first few days. What makes Apple’s achievements more remarkable is the fact that the company has encountered some problem with its supply line. The demand for iPhones is on the rise but the supply cannot match it. This is the reason the shipping times had to be pushed back for the iPhone 5. Considering this, the sales are staggering.

Looking Forward to the Last Quarter

Conservative market estimates believe that Apple is going to increase its sales by at least 50% and sell around 46 million iPhones in the last quarter. Given Apple’s track record, one shouldn’t be surprised if the company manages to sell more than that, maybe cross 50 million. With the holiday season coming up, strong sales are all but guaranteed. Samsung would be looking over its shoulder!

[Image via iclarified]