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   From: markh@sjnb.ca   
      
   As are Mac products in general.   
      
   Android now has more than half of U.S. smartphone sales   
   iPhone declines in share, Windows Phone gains, Kantar says   
      
   Computerworld - Android represented more than half of U.S.   
   smartphone sales in the last quarter of 2013, while the iPhone's   
   share dropped to 43.9% from nearly 50% the prior year, Kantar   
   WorldPanel ComTech said Monday.   
      
   The Android improvement in the U.S. brought it to 50.6% of the   
   market for the quarter, up from 46.2% share in fourth quarter of   
   2012, Kantar said.   
      
   Kantar didn't publish unit sales volumes, focusing instead only   
   on market share percentages. But the overall growth in   
   smartphone sales globally meant that Apple actually sold more   
   iPhones in the fourth quarter in the U.S. compared to the 2012   
   final quarter, while incurring the drop in share, said Kantar   
   analyst Carolina Milanesi.   
      
   "Android finished 2013 strongly, showing year-on-year share   
   growth across 12 major global markets, including Europe, USA,   
   Latin America, China and Japan," said Kantar analyst Dominic   
   Sunnebo in a statement. "Apple has lost share in most countries   
   compared with this time last year, but importantly it has held   
   strong shares in key markets, including 43.9% in the USA, 29.9%   
   in Great Britain and 19% in China."   
      
   While the U.S. might seem to be the best market for the iPhone   
   in terms of market share, Kantar said the iPhone represented   
   68.7% of sales in Japan in the fourth quarter, with Japan's   
   largest carrier -- NTT DoCoMO -- Softbank and AU KDDI all   
   selling iPhone models as more than half of their inventory.   
      
   Windows Phone also grew in share in nearly every market Kantar   
   followed. In the U.S., Windows Phone had 4.3% of the market, up   
   from 2.4% a year earlier. In Italy, it had 17% of the market,   
   well above iOS at 12.8% but also well behind Android at 66%.   
   Windows Phone had its the largest market share in Italy of any   
   of the markets that Kantar reported on.   
      
   Milanesi said that Windows Phones sold by Nokia under the Lumia   
   brand were not what would have been expected for the holiday   
   season, "but were not as bad as initial headlines made them out   
   to be." Nokia said it sold 8.2 million Lumia phones for the   
   fourth quarter, down from the 8.8 million sold in the prior   
   quarter.   
      
   "The slowdown in Nokia momentum, I believe, had more to do with   
   carriers being cautious to sell in a transitional period while   
   they see what Microsoft will do with the Lumia line," Milanesi   
   added. "That, plus the new iPhone models and the Samsung   
   promotions over the holidays make the U.S. market a challenging   
   one for a brand -- Nokia -- that is still not top of mind for   
   consumers."   
      
   Microsoft is expected to complete its $7.4 billion purchase of   
   Nokia's handset division this quarter.   
      
   http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9245789/Android_now_has_m   
   ore_than_half_of_U.S._smartphone_sales   
      
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)