Apple grabs 53% of U.S. smartphone market

Thanks to sales of the iPhone 5, Apple has now seized 53% of the U.S. market for smartphones, according to a report by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

That’s a new peak in terms of percentage for Apple. And it comes at the expense of Google’s Android mobile operating system.

Apple’s 53% share is up from 35.8% a year ago. Android has seen its share in the U.S. drop from 52.8% last year to 41.9.%. RIM, makers of the BlackBerry, saw its share evaporate, from 7% to 1.4%. Windows showed a glimmer of hope, with its share rising from 2.1% to 2.8%, with the official release of Windows Phone 8 in October.

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The story remains brighter in Europe for Android, where it has 61% of the market across that continent’s five largest countries, up from 51.8% a year ago. Apple, however, also gained share but at a slower pace, climbing from 22.8% to 25.3%. Windows grew from 2.6% to 4.7%. Those gains, again, primarily came from the decline of RIM and Symbian.

The iPhone faces a steeper challenge in what the report calls “Urban China,� where Android has captured 72.2% of the market compared with 19.2% for Apple.

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