HispanicBusiness

Taiwan's HTC Corp. (TAIEX:2498) said Tuesday that it became the top smartphone vendor in the United States in the third quarter of 2011, citing statistics from industry research firm Canalys.

It is the first time the Taoyuan, Taiwan-based company has seized the top spot, with a 22.9 per cent market share, edging out Samsung Electronics Co. (22 per cent, KSE:005930) and Apple Inc. (20.1 per cent) in the world's largest smartphone market, according to an HTC statement.

The figure represents a climb from the 21.3 per cent share it recorded in the second quarter, when Apple still led the market with a 24.7 per cent share and Samsung ranked third with 15.1 per cent.

"This is an awesome achievement for HTC, which has built a premium brand in a highly competitive market in just a few short years," said Chris Jones, Canalys' vice president and principal analyst.

"It now has a strong range of 4G Android products, with devices ranged by each of the major carriers, and offers some of the most compelling and differentiated products found on the platform today," Jones said.

HTC shipped 5.7 million smartphones in the U.S. under its own brand, giving it almost 25 per cent of the market, according to Canalys.

Samsung pushed Apple into third place in the U.S market, with shipments of its own-brand devices reaching 4.9 million units, it added.

Apple's U.S. smartphone shipments totaled 4.6 million in the quarter, but this was affected around the world by consumers holding off, preferring to wait for the launch of the next-generation iPhone, said the research firm.