CHICAGO — Apple maintained its brand-share lead among U.S. cellphone purchasers in the first quarter, though its share slipped by 5 percentage points, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) found in surveying 500 consumers who activated a smartphone or feature phone.
Apple’s share of new- and used-phone activations slipped to 43 percent from 48 percent in the fourth quarter, which was the first full quarter of iPhone 5s and 5c sales.
Samsung’s share slipped to 29 percent from Q4’s 31 percent, but LG’s share grew to 12 percent from the fourth quarter’s 8 percent.
Other gainers on a sequential basis were Motorola, whose share rose to 6 percent from 5 percent; HTC, whose share rose to 4 percent from 3 percent; BlackBerry, whose share rose to 1 percent from 0 percent; and “other,” whose share rose to 4 percent from 3 percent.
The only loser was Nokia, whose share slipped to 1 percent from 2 percent.
