Apple has top US smartphone, passes Google: Research firm

Helsinki: Early success for the iPhone 5 smartphone has helped Apple to overtake Google's Android software in the United States, research firm Kantar WorldPanel said on Tuesday.

Apple's US share of smartphone sales in the 12 weeks to October 31 more than doubled from a year ago to 48.1 per cent, putting it within reach of the record 49.3 per cent it managed in early 2012.

Android's share dropped to 46.7 per cent from 63.3 per cent, Kantar WorldPanel's data showed, but it continues to dominate in key European markets. The platform claimed 74 per cent market share in Germany and 82 per cent in Spain.

Android's combined share of the top five European markets rose to 64 per cent, from 51 per cent a year earlier, while Apple's share edged up by one per centage point to 21 per cent.

Research In Motion Ltd (RIM.TO) saw its share fall in all but one of the surveyed markets, sliding to 1.6 per cent from 8.5 per cent in the United States, and to 2.7 per cent from 8.7 per cent in Brazil. In Germany, the BlackBerry maker's share rose 0.9 per centage points to 2.5 per cent.

RIM's stock fell 5.9 per cent to C$11.20 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. But the shares, which soared last week on rising optimism around RIM's soon-to-be-launched BlackBerry 10 devices, were still up more than 15 per cent from last Monday's close.