Apple regains number one position in smart phones

Infonetics Research says owing to the introduction of the iPhone5, Apple regained its lead in smartphone revenue market share in 4Q12 with 37%, followed by Samsung with 29%; Samsung maintains its lead in smartphone unit share. “FDD-LTE was the biggest driver for smartphone growth in the final quarter of 2012, with unit growth of 151%, the second straight quarter of triple-digit growth,” reports Julien Blin, directing analyst for consumer electronics and mobile broadband at Infonetics Research. “TDD-LTE smartphones are also ramping fast, albeit from a much smaller base, despite a temporary dip in growth in the 4th quarter. In 2012, 5 times as many W-CDMA/HSPA smartphones shipped as LTE smartphones. By 2015 we expect LTE smartphones to overtake W-CDMA/HSPA.” Blin adds: “Similarly in the tablet space, the growing popularity of low-cost LTE tablets, shared data plans, and improved LTE network coverage (especially in developed markets like North America and Western Europe), will drive LTE-enabled tablets to close the gap on WiFi-only tablets by 2017.” The other finding disclosed by Infonetics includes: The global smartphone market totaled $247 billion in 2012, up 51% from 2011 Sales of tablets reached $42 billion worldwide in 2012, jumping 281% over 2011 In 2012, shipments of standalone USB mobile broadband cards grew steadily, driven by W-CDMA shipments in developing co...