Apple’s iPhone Takes Smartphone Share from Android in U.S.

Apple’s iPhone gained market share in the U.S. smartphone industry during the June quarter, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. The company said that Apple’s share rose from 23 percent in the second quarter of 2011 to 33 percent in Q2 of 2012. Android’s share fell from 61 percent in Q2 of 2011 to 56 percent in Q2 2012.

Year-Over-Year Q2 Market Share

Chart by The Mac Observer from Strategy Analytics Data

Some were quick to point to weakness when Apple reported global unit sales of 26 million iPhones during the June quarter earlier in July, but the company was able to gain share in the U.S. due to a year-over-year decline in overall smartphone sales that was greater than Apple’s decline. Wall Street had been expecting Apple to report up to 29 million iPhone units.

“Smartphone shipments fell 5 percent annually to reach 23.8 million units in the United States in Q2 2012,” Alex Spektor, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics said in a statement. This was one of the slowest growth rates ever experienced by the important US smartphone market. A volatile economy, maturing penetration of smartphones among contract mobile subscribers, and major operators tightening their upgrade policies to enhance profits were among the main causes of the slowdown.”

Android device sales were pegged at 13.4 million units in the U.S., for 56 percent of the market. In the year-ago quarter, 15.3 million Android units were sold. Apple’s unit sales actually increased in the U.S., according to Strategy Analytics, from 5.9 million units to 7.9 million units.

Research In Motion’s BlackBerry share also declined, according to the report, dipping to 6.5 percent from 11 percent in the year-ago quarter. The company sold 1.6 million BlackBerry devices in the U.S., down from 2.7 million in the year-ago quarter.

“Consumers, businesses and operators continue to be frustrated by Blackberry’s limited touchscreen smartphone portfolio and repeated delays to its new BB10 operating system,” Scott Bicheno, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement.

All in all, the report showed that Apple’s seemingly lackluster results turned out to be closer to outstanding. At the same time, if the U.S. smartphone market is already reaching “maturity,” every competitor’s prospects for the future are perhaps more limited than previously thought. It will also make emerging markets like China ever-more important as investors look for companies like Apple to grow.