Apple overtook Google's Android to become the leading smartphone platform in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2011, thanks to strong demand for its latest iPhone model, said a study released on Wednesday.
While Android retains global smartphone crown, Apple is now growing at a faster rate, driven by the launch of its latest iPhone 4S model in October last year, Kantar Worldpanel noted.
"Overall, Apple sales are now growing at a faster rate than Android across the nine countries we cover," Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at the research firm, said in a statement.
Apple posted better-than-expected quarterly results on Tuesday, saying it sold a record-breaking 37.04 million units of iPhone in total in the fourth quarter last year, an increase of 128 percent over the year-ago period.
VietNamNet/Xinhuanet