A new report says the launch of Apple’s iPhone on the T-Mobile network helped the iOS platform step a bit closer to Google’s Android in market share over the past three months.
Kantar Worldpanel on Monday released its latest analysis of the U.S. smartphone market for the three month period ending May 2013, finding that Apples iOS platform held 41.9 percent of sales. That figure is up 3.5 percent from the same period last year.
Android retained its overall lead in smartphone marketshare with 52%, up only 0.1%, while Microsoft saw its Windows Phone platform improve with a 4.6% share, up 0.9% over the same period last year.
Kantar gives the iPhone launch on T-Mobile in April a good amount of credit for the device’s market share growth. The iPhone has accounted for 31% of T-Mobile’s smartphone sales since its launch. The device tallies 60.5% of the smartphones that go out the door at AT&T, and grabs 43.8% of Verizon’s smartphone sales.
The iPhone should continue to carry some clout at T-Mobile, as Kantar’s survey of that carrier’s current customers found that of those planning on updating their devices, 28% planned to go for the iPhone.
