iOS Remains Top Selling Platform in Q4 2012, Android Users Jump Ship

Apple's iOS smartphone platform continues to roll, snatching up 51.2% of market sales in the U.S. over the course of a 12-week period ending on December 23, 2012, according to data reported by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

But the intriguing part isn't that iOS continued its reign as the top-selling smartphone operating system, but rather that 36% of all iOS sales from 2012 came from users switching from other platforms. Specifically, 19% of iOS sales in the U.S. over the last year came from Android users, a substantial increase from 9% over the course of 2011.

When observing the carrier breakdown, ComTech found that the trend was the most evident at Verizon Wireless, where nearly half (49%) of all iPhone sales last year came from users of other smartphone brands, with 30% coming from defecting Android users. This is a much higher rate than at, say, AT&T, where 15% of iOS sales came from users of other brands, and only 9% from Android specifically.

In terms of total sales during this same 12-week period, however, Android still remains in a close second place at 44.2%, down slightly from last year's 44.8%, with Windows Phone coming in a distant third at 2.6%.

Carrier sales rankings in Q4 2012 sees AT&T coming in first with 33.3% of all smartphones sold, helping it maintain its first place position, with Verizon and Sprint following up with 32% and 14.8%, respectively.

Source: Kantar Worldpanel ComTech