HTC Takes Smartphone Top Spot in the US

Exceeding even Samsung's performance in the US market, HTC has achieved number one status for the third quarter of 2011. The company shipped 5.7 million devices under its own brand, nearly a quarter of the market, in addition to an estimated 70,000 units for T-Mobile's house brand.

As reported earlier, Samsung hasn't been standing still either, with 27.8 million smartphones taking it to more than 23% of the market worldwide. That is the second highest quarterly result ever, topped only by Nokia’s Q4 2010 performance. Around 500,000 of Samsung's smartphone units were sub-branded T.Mobile or Google.

Samsung took second in the US with 4.9 million units, significantly behind its Android competitor HTC, but ahead of Apple.

Apple's decision to delay the introduction of the iPhone 4S continues to haunt the Cupertino tech giant, its iPhone line managing third US spot with 4.6 million units.

However, the pent-up demand for the newest iPhone means that Apple will be guaranteed a spectacular fourth quarter, perhaps enough to temporarily restore its share to number one for Q4. Its growth, however, has not matched that of its competitors and any unit market leadership will doubtless be short-lived.

Meanwhile, the Chinese smartphone market is poised to become the world's largest any day now, having missed by just 200,000 or so in the last quarter.

Source: Canalys