Samsung Gives Apple (AAPL) the Old One-Two (BBRY) (NOK) (MSFT)
"While we believe Samsung and Apple maintained dominant share of the U.S. smartphone market versus sub-scale Android OEMs and struggling Windows Phone and BlackBerry ecosystems, we believe Samsung on the strength of strong Galaxy S4, S III, and Note II sales surpassed Apple to gain top share of the U.S. smartphone market for the first time since the iPhone 5 launch," Walkley said.
In the U.S., the Samsung Galaxy S4 was the top-selling smartphone at Verizon/Sprint/T-Mobile, and second best-selling smartphone at AT&T to the iPhone 5. Other top selling models included the iPhone 5 at all four tier-1 carriers, the HTC One at AT&T/Sprint/T-Mobile, and the Nokia Lumia (NYSE: NOK) 928 at Verizon, the analyst noted.
While Samsung took the top spot, sales reps often recommended the HTC One ahead of the Galaxy S4, Walkley noted. "Despite strong reviews for the HTC One, we worry HTC does not have the brand, distribution, and marketing budget to drive even stronger sales of the very competitive high-tier HTC One smartphone," he said.
BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) and Windows (NASDAQ: MSFT) smartphones witnessed weaker sales in the wake of the GS4 launch and HTC One, it was noted.
"Our surveys indicated soft Z10 sales at AT&T/TMobile/Verizon and more tepid than anticipated initial pre-order demand for the Q10 at Verizon," he comments. "While our surveys indicated solid initial sales of the Lumia 928 at Verizon, we believe Nokia sales at other U.S. carriers also slowed post the GS4 launch."
Looking at emerging markets, Walkley anticipates an increasing mix of LTE smartphone sales and 3G smartphone upgrades from 2G feature phones throughout 2013.