Apple leads phone sales in May, Samsung gains, and LG loses steam

By Jason Hahn July 5, 2014

Apple hasn’t unveiled a new iPhone in more than nine months, but the company still has a stranglehold on the U.S. smartphone market. In May, Apple claimed 41.9 percent of the market, according to a report from comScore. Samsung grew its market share, while LG and HTC lost a bit of their respective shares of the pie.

Apple’s share reflects an increase of 0.6 percentage points from its 41.3 percent share in February. Samsung finished May in second place with 27.8 percent of the market, up 0.8 percentage points. LG finished third with 6.5 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, down 0.3 percentage points.

Motorola (6.3 percent, unchanged) and HTC (5.1 percent, down 0.3 percentage points) rounded out the list of the top smartphone original equipment manufacturers in May.

Top smartphone OEMs May 2014

Nevertheless, Google’s Android was the king of smartphone platforms with 52.1 percent of the market, maintaining its share from February. Apple’s iOS followed with 41.9 percent, up 0.6 percentage points. Microsoft held steady with 3.4 percent of the market, as BlackBerry followed with 2.3 percent.

Top smartphone platforms May 2014

Facebook was the top smartphone app in May, reaching 76.4 percent of all smartphone app users. Google Play (51.8 percent), YouTube (51.7 percent), Google Search (49.2 percent) and Pandora (47.6 percent) rounded out the top five mobile apps.

Top smartphone apps May 2014

In May, 169 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones, reflecting a 70 percent mobile market penetration, according to comScore.

While this report is positive for Apple’s smartphone business, there’s a healthy dose of buzz these days about its rumored iWatch, especially after the company hired Tag Heuer’s sales executive. But, of course, nothing trumps the anticipation for the iPhone 6, which may finally be unveiled in September.

[Image courtesy of Dmitro2009/Shutterstock]

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Jason Hahn is a part-time freelance writer based in New Jersey. He earned his master's degree in journalism at Northwestern…

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