Canalys: U.S. Q4 iPhone Shipments Soar 221%

By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 2/3/2012

Palo Alto, Calif. - U.S. smartphone shipments soared 38.1 percent in the fourth quarter to 30.8 million and 42.9 percent to 100.5 million in calendar 2011, led during both periods by rising sales of Apple's iOS-based smartphones, a Canalys study found.

Though Apple smartphone growth outpaced Android growth, the Android OS nonetheless maintained its leading share of smartphone shipments during both periods, the study found.

Shipments of Apple iOS smartphones surged 221.4 percent in the quarter to 13.2 million compared with the year-ago quarter, while Android shipments grew only 24.7 percent to 15.1 million. (See table.) Android nonetheless retained top shipment share in the quarter, with 49.1 percent share compared with Apple's 43 percent share. The share of smartphones shipped with the BlackBerry, Windows and other operating systems shrank dramatically, said the research and consulting company.

For the calendar year, Apple shipments surged 96.6 percent to 30.6 million for a full-year share of 30.4 percent. Full-year Android shipments surged 93.8 percent to 56.7 million to end up the year with a share of 56.7 percent.

Also for the full year, BlackBerry shipments fell 48.5 percent to 9.7 million, while Windows Phone shipments fell 33.5 percent to 2.2 million.