There’s been more than a little speculation lately about Apple’s iPhone 5 sales and the possibility that it may not be doing as well in the market as everyone expected. Especially with the recent price drop of the iPhone 5 at Walmart, which is about as rare as a precious gem, it looked like the iPhone was a waning fad. That doesn’t seem to be the case with recent research suggesting that market share in the U.S. for iPhone sales has reached an all-time high.
Kantar Worldpanel Comtech, which tracks smartphone sales among major markets, reports that in the 12 weeks prior to November 25th, Apple’s U.S. smartphone sales share peaked at 53.3 percent. Android’s share isn’t too far behind with 41.9 percent. The two combined are pretty much what Google is to any other search engine. Windows Phone has jumped ahead of RIM with 7 percent, but RIM is still banking on BlackBerry 10 for a comeback.
While Apple’s doing surprisingly well in the U.S., problems emerge as we head overseas. Android phone sales have reached an all-time high in Europe with a 61 percent share and it’s also leading the pack in Australia, China, and Brazil. Samsung is the main vendor that’s giving Android all the percentage points.
We are already in the midst of what is perhaps the most important time of the year to determine smartphone sales: the holiday shopping season. Calendar Q4 results are crucial because it’s when a lot of consumers make a lot of choices on what to buy in a very small amount of time.