According to Yonhap – a South Korea’s largest news agency based in Seoul, Counterpoint Technology Market Research published a report today, which shows that Apple’s global mobile phone market share fell 16 percent in December 2012, a decline of 3 percent from Novemeber 2012.
The research firm is reporting that the drop in market share is mainly attributed to weak demands of the iPhone 5, especially by Chinese consumers who are opting for the cheaper iPhone 4S.
The report also pointed to the scaling back of subsidies for the Apple iPhones by North American and European mobile operators as another factor responsible for the decline. In many cases, the subsidies paid to Apple for the iPhone is usually twice that for Android phones, according to the report.
Samsung Electronics kept its lead with a 29 percent market share, while Nokia saw its share increase 2 percentage points to 23 percent, according to the report.
The accuracy of this report is up for debate, given that over 2 million iPhone 5 handsets were sold on its debut weekend in China.
Source (Korean): Yonhap
