Consumer Electronics

Apple Continues to Grow US Smartphone Market Share Lead

apple iphone 6 intro
Apple Inc.
For the three-month period ending in June, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) gained 1.5% share of the U.S. smartphone market and now leads all original equipment manufacturers with a 44.1% share, up 1% compared with March and up 2.8% compared with its January 2015 total. Samsung Electronics’ share has dropped 1.2% to 28.1% since January.

No other smartphone maker gained share in June. LG Electronics dropped 0.1% from a March share of 8.4% to a June share of 8.3%. Motorola also slipped by 0.1%, from 5.0% in March to 4.9% in June, and HTC dropped 0.4%, from 3.8% to 3.4% share.

The data are contained in the latest report on the U.S. smartphone market from comScore and is based on a three-month average for April, May and June, compared with the three-month period that ended in March 2015.

On the operating system (platform) front, Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Android dropped 0.8 points of share, from 52.4% to 51.6%, but still remains the top platform. Apple gained 1.5 points, rising from 42.6% in March to 44.1% in June. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) dropped 0.4% to post a 3.3% share, and BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) also lost 0.4% to post a 1.2% share in June.

The top five smartphone apps in the comScore survey were Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB); with 71.8% reach for all smartphone users at least 18 years old; YouTube (56.3%); Facebook Messenger (54.5%); Google Search (50%); and Google Play (49.8%). Facebook Messenger continues to gain share while Google Search and Google Play slip. Pandora Radio from Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) rose to seventh place behind Google Maps, with a reach of 42.8%. Instagram finished ninth and Yahoo Stocks rounded out the top 10.

ALSO READ: 8 Large Companies Valued Under 10 Times Earnings

Credit Card Companies Are Doing Something Nuts

Credit card companies are at war. The biggest issuers are handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers.

It’s possible to find cards paying unlimited 1.5%, 2%, and even more today. That’s free money for qualified borrowers, and the type of thing that would be crazy to pass up. Those rewards can add up to thousands of dollars every year in free money, and include other benefits as well.

We’ve assembled some of the best credit cards for users today.  Don’t miss these offers because they won’t be this good forever.

 

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.