Apple reigns as chief U.S. smartphone maker

Apple reigns as chief U.S. smartphone maker
As Apple appears to be winning the U.S. smartphone race, Google still has a strong hold as the top mobile platform. New data by ComScore shows that Apple got the rank of "top smartphone manufacturer" by raking in 36.3 percent of the market share, while Google Android was the No. 1 platform with 53.4 percent share. ComScore tallied this data by surveying more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers between September and December 2012.To date, 125.9 million people in the U.S. now own a smartphone, which is 54 percent of the total mobile market. This is up 5 percent since September. And, Apple's iPhone has been steadily rising in U.S. penetration -- having also gone up 2 percentage points since September. It is followed by Samsung, which has 21 percent of the market and has risen 2.3 percentage points. Next in line are HTC, Motorola, and LG, respectively.ComScore As far as smartphone platforms go, Google's Android still dominates. However, Apple seems to be creeping up in this market too. Apple's share increased 2 percentage points to 36.3 percent since September, while Google's went up just 0.9 percentage points. BlackBerry came in third with 6.4 percent, and Microsoft and Symbian followed.Despite Apple's growth and dominance, some analysts believe that the iPhone market share will peak at 22 percent and then level off. In order to keep growing, ABI research firm has said, Apple needs to put more focus on the business market.