Strong iPhone 4S sales re-establish dominance

Although Samsung actually sold almost as many smartphones (combined across all models as Apple globally in the holiday quarter of 2011 (33 million compared to 37 million iPhones), the company took a beating in the US market and saw Android lose marketshare for the first time. While Samsung continues to do well in the market with its Apple-inspired designs, Apple's growing success is changing the way its competitors think, reports BusinessWeek.

Apple's sales in the US were truly astonishing, with 80 percent of the 9.4 million activations in the last calendar quarter from AT&T being iPhones, with Verizon reporting 56 percent iPhone activations out of a total of 7.7 million. Smaller rivals like LG and HTC have already reported declines in profit or lower-than-forecast results.

The dominance in the market by Apple and Samsung have forced others, like Motorola Mobility, to question the wisdom in releasing dozens of models all across the year, and even to avoid announcing new models heading into the holiday quarter. HTC has also said it would focus on fewer models with more differentiation, and alternatives like Windows Phone-based models from various companies may blossom with the next major release, eventually offering a real option for customers not already locked into the Apple eco-system.

Though Android has strong support from Google and a healthy app market, its customers tend to have fewer third-party apps, spend less and see their phones go obsolete quickly, leaving them more open to switching to the iPhone if a compelling model or price point appears.

Even Samsung is likely to be nervous about Apple's plans to expand the iPhone market further into China, Japan, India, Russia and Latin America -- all areas where Android enjoys wide popularity. Morgan Stanley analysts predict that Apple will sell up to 40 million iPhones in China alone across the next two years. [via BusinessWeek]

By Electronista Staff