LG Claims Second Place in U.S. Phone Marketshare

Move over Apple there is a new number two in town!

According to recent data from Counterpoint Research, Korean manufacturer LG has overtaken Apple to become the second largest phone manufacturer in the United States.

Samsung and Apple have long been seen as the juggernauts of the mobile industry, and for good reason, as both companies remain dominant in the smartphone market, growing rapidly and taking  marketshare away from rivals.

However, the collective sales of LG's smartphones and feature phones proved to be enough to overtake Apple, though Samsung remains far ahead of both competitors. New data from Counterpoint research suggests that it was LG's strong December sales that helped the company claim the second largest stake of the U.S. phone market.

In line with that data, LG announced recently that its flagship handset, the Optimus G, has  surpassed the one million sale milestone. The Nexus 4 has also been selling well, which the Korean manufacturer makes for Google.

Counterpoint claims that the strong sales over the month of December; including an influx of sales over the Christmas period, helped LG's share of mobile devices in the U.S. increase to 13%, narrowly beating Apple's 12% share. Additionally, Samsung remained well ahead of both companies at 33% , while Motorola and HTC claimed a 9% and 8% share respectively.

LG was originally eclipsed by Apple in the third quarter of 2011 with the launch of the iPhone 4S. Thanks to the recent popularity of LG devices, however, the company has been able to reclaim its old position, though it is still unclear why performed so well in December.

While LG has reclaimed second place, it's important to note that smartphone sales only make up roughly half of all phone purchases in the United States; and since Apple does not make any feature phones, the recent market shift does not indicate that LG's smartphones have outsold Apple's.