U.S. Smartphone Shipments Fall 5%

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
By Trey Thoelcke Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

The latest research from Strategy Analytics indicates that smartphone shipments in the United States fell 5% annually to reach less than 24 million units during the second quarter of 2012. Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android operating system lost ground to Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iOS, which gained 10 points to 33%. Android’s market share fell four points on an annual basis to 56%.

Research In Motion Ltd.’s (NASDAQ: RIMM) BlackBerry experienced a decline in market share in the United States from about 11% to less than 7% over the past year. That was its lowest level in recent history. The company shipped 1.6 million smartphones in the second quarter.

“This was one of the slowest growth rates ever experienced by the important US smartphone market,” said Alex Spektor, associate director at Strategy Analytics. “A volatile economy, maturing penetration of smartphones among contract mobile subscribers, and major operators tightening their upgrade policies to enhance profits were among the main causes of the slowdown.”

Shares of Apple were up about 2% in early trading to about $597.02, in a 52-week range of $353.02 to $644.00. Google was up about 0.75% to $639.73, with a 52-week range of $480.60 to $670.25. And Research In Motion up about 2.5% to $7.57. Its 52-week range is $6.56 to $33.54.

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618