Counterpoint Research: LG surpassed Apple to become the second largest mobile phone vendor in the United States in December 2012

January 21, 2012 Last week, LG's flagship smartphone Optimus G sales exceeded the 1 million mark, but considering that the phone was launched as early as October last year, this milestone seems a bit slow to come. However, a research report by market research firm Counterpoint Research shows that the company took the second place in the US mobile phone market from Apple in December last year.

Counterpoint Research said that strong sales of LG smartphones during the Christmas season helped the company's share of the US mobile phone market climb to 13%, just ahead of Apple (12%). Samsung still ranked first with a share of 33%, while Motorola and HTC ranked fourth and fifth with 9% and 8% respectively.

In response to the report, an LG spokesperson said, "Optimus G and our other new smartphones have become more popular in the North American market."

Counterpoint Research said that in the third quarter of 2011, LG lost its second place in the US market due to the launch of iPhone 4S. However, it is not clear which LG phone model sold the best in December last year. LG specifically mentioned the Optimus G in its statement, but considering its current tepid sales, it is likely that the Google Nexus 4 produced by LG gave the company a big boost. If this is indeed the case, the above research report is somewhat misleading, because Nexus 4 is Google's own brand phone, so LG's rising market ranking does not mean that its own brand phones have become more popular.

It is also worth mentioning that the US 'mobile phone' market includes both smartphones and feature phones. Considering that Apple is not involved in the feature phone market, which still accounts for nearly half of the US mobile phone market, the report does not mean that LG's smartphone sales have surpassed Apple.

LG will release its fourth-quarter 2012 financial report on January 30, which will provide more information on LG's mobile phone sales. The company's third-quarter revenue fell 4% year-on-year, but it achieved a net profit of 157 billion won (about 138.5 million US dollars), achieving profitability for three consecutive quarters.