Apple has top US smartphone, passes Google: research firm

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.

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.

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

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

Android's combined share of the top five European markets rose to 64%, from 51% a in 2011, while Apple's share edged up by one percentage point to 21%.

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

RIM's stock fell 5.9% 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% from last Monday's close.