Just a matter of days after Samsung was reported to be the top dog in smartphone shipments, another report shows HTC as the leader in the US.
HTC, which only a few years ago was a name nobody in the US would have even recognized, now ships more smartphones throughout the country than titans of the industry like Samsung and Apple.
According to research group Canalys, HTC shipped 5.77 million smartphones in the US market during the most recent quarter. Samsung reached 4.9 million while Apple reportedly shipped 4.6 million iPhones this quarter.
HTC first entered the US as the maker of the very first Android phone, the T-Mobile-powered G1. Since then it has grown to be one of the most recognized names in the industry, releasing such ultra popular phones as the Verizon Thunderbolt and Sprint’s line of ‘Evo’ phones.
“This is an awesome achievement for HTC, which has built a premium brand in a highly competitive market in just a few short years. It now has a strong range of 4G Android products, with devices ranged by each of the major carriers, and offers some of the most compelling and differentiated products found on the platform today,” wrote Canalys in a statement.
On the global scale, HTC is far behind. Samsung beats HTC in worldwide smartphone shipments at a rate of 2-to-1. Samsung also recently overtook Apple in the global market, continuing a feud between Apple and Samsung that has become almost legendary.
