Report: Apple gains, everyone else loses in Q2 2015 US smartphone hardware and OS market

By Jason Hahn August 8, 2015

report apple gains everyone else loses in q2 2015 u s smartphone hardware and os market iphone 6 hands on 3 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Apple’s iPhone and iOS fared well in the second quarter of 2015, at the expense of other major mobile device makers and platforms. In fact, Apple was the only smartphone maker and OS to see a rise in its U.S. market share during the three months ending in June, according to comScore’s latest report.

In the second quarter of 2015, Apple finished with 44.1 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, up 1.5 percentage points from its 42.6 percent share during the three months ending in March. Samsung finished second with 28.1 percent of the market, down 0.2 percentage points. LG (8.3 percent), Motorola (4.9 percent), and HTC (3.4 percent) rounded out the top five, each with diminishing slices of the pie.

In terms of smartphone operating systems, Android remained in first place with 51.6 percent of the U.S. market, down 0.8 percentage points. Apple finished the second quarter with 44.1 percent of the market, up 1.5 percentage points. Microsoft (2.9 percent), BlackBerry (1.2 percent), and Symbian (0.1 percent) rounded out the list.

The comScore report also notes that 190.3 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in June, which reflects a 76.7 percent mobile market penetration.

Facebook was the top smartphone app in June, reaching 71.8 percent of the U.S. smartphone app audience. Naming the rest of the top 10 apps is largely an exercise in listing Facebook and Google’s mobile assets, with YouTube (56.3 percent), Facebook Messenger (54.5 percent), Google Search (50.0 percent), Google Play (49.8 percent), Google Maps (47.7 percent), Pandora Radio (42.8 percent), Gmail (41.7 percent), Instagram (37.1 percent), and Yahoo Stocks (29.9 percent) rounding out the list.

Kantar Worldpanel’s ComTech recently reported that the iPhone lost market share in the U.S. in the second quarter and picked up market share in overseas markets.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Jason Hahn is a part-time freelance writer based in New Jersey. He earned his master's degree in journalism at Northwestern…

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