A new report Wednesday affirmed that Apple Inc. retook the top spot among smartphone sellers at the end of 2011 but raises the possibility that sales will slow in the current quarter.
That's because the sales surge in the three months that ended in December was largely from pent-up demand for the newest version, the iPhone 4S, that was introduced in October, according to research firm Gartner.
"The wild card for 2012 is China," analyst Roberta Cozza told Bloomberg. "If Apple closes a deal with China Telecom or China Mobile they could see their units double in that market."
Gartner said in its report that Apple accounted for nearly a quarter of all smartphone sales (23.8 percent) in the final three months of last year, up from 15.8 percent the year before.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) sold 35.5 million smartphones in the quarter while No. 2 Samsung Electronics sold 34 million, Gartner said.
Overall, smartphone sales rose 58 percent in 2011 compared to 2010, the firm said, but it sees that growth rate slowing to 39 percent in 2012. That is blamed on uncertainties in global economies.
Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) remains the most popular operating system, running on more than half of the smartphones sold last year.
Written by Cromwell Schubarth. Contact him at cschubarth@bizjournals.com or 408.299.1823.
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