Samsung shipped the most smartphones during the second quarter of 2014, Apple maintained the most smartphone subscribers, and Google's Android OS continued its reign as king of smartphone platforms.
The latest reports from market research firms comScore and Counterpoint reveal numbers that will serve as talking points for Apple, Google and Samsung loyalists from Cupertino to Seoul and back to Mountain View.
Apple's handsets served 42.1 percent of smartphone subscribers in the U.S. during the quarter ending on June 12, up 0.7 percent from the preceding quarter, according to a report from comScore. Second-place Samsung's handsets served 28.6 percent of the United State's smartphone users last quarter, up 1.6 percent from the preceding quarter, according to comScore.
Samsung's handsets accounted for 36.1 percent of smartphones shipped in the U.S. during the second quarter of 2014, up 2.2 percent year-to-year, according to a report from CounterPoint. Apple's handset made up 29.7 percent of the smartphones shipped in the U.S. during the second quarter, down by 2.5 percent year-to-year.
The Android OS' share of the mobile platforms market fell by 0.3 percent during the quarter ending on June 14, that decline was hardly enough to see the OS shaken from the top spot, according to comScore. The Android OS held 51.9 percent of the mobile platforms market, while iOS's stake accounting for 42.1 percent, according to comScore.
Facebook's mobile app had the farthest reach for yet another quarter, making it onto 73.6 percent of smartphones, and Google apps filled most of the top 15 spots.
As far as hardware, it's a tug of war between Apple and Samsung. Any company not named Apple or Samsung fights with several other companies for just a third of the market, CounterPoint said the United States' competitive mobile market has been turning into a zero-sum game -- each company loses a bit of market share as the other company launches a new product.
"However, Samsung has been at advantage with staggered two flagship launches -- Galaxy S in March and Galaxy Note in September -- during the year helping it to maintain healthy share," stated CounterPoint. "But it could be difficult for Samsung if Apple replicates the similar strategy launching multiple versions of iPhones (4.7-inch and 5.5-inch versions) twice a year, e.g., in Q3 (Sep) & Q1 (Mar) timeframes respectively."
While the tech war between Apple and Samsung has been waged around the world, the pair decided to drop patent cases against each other in countries outside of the U.S. The move clears cases between Apple and Samsung in eight countries, but they haven't ruled out prizefights against each other in the U.S.
