iPhone 5 and 4S Top Samsung Galaxy S III in Worldwide Smartphone Shipments in 4Q 2012 - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

iPhone 5 and 4S Top Samsung Galaxy S III in Worldwide Smartphone Shipments in 4Q 2012

by

Back in November, research firm Strategy Analytics estimated that Samsung's Galaxy S III had topped the list of worldwide smartphone shipments for the third quarter of 2012, taking advantage of a lull in iPhone 4S sales ahead of the iPhone 5 launch to claim the crown.

Unsurprisingly, the firm's latest figures published today find that Apple easily reclaimed the title for the fourth quarter of the year with the iPhone 5 seeing shipments of 27.4 million units for 12.6% of the market.

strategy_analytics_top_phones_4q2012
Not only did the iPhone 5 top the market, but the iPhone 4S also saw more shipments than the Galaxy S III, as shipments of the previous-generation iPhone actually saw an uptick in the fourth quarter after Apple cut pricing.

Apple’s iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S together accounted for 1 in 5 of all smartphones shipped worldwide in Q4 2012. This was an impressive performance, given the iPhone portfolio’s premium pricing. We estimate Samsung’s Galaxy S3 was the world’s third best-selling smartphone model and it shipped 15.4 million units globally, capturing 7 percent share in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Strategy Analytics' numbers are of course an estimate, given that Apple does not break down iPhone sales by model and Samsung does not even release handset shipment data.

The leapfrog game between Apple and Samsung is likely to continue when Samsung launches its new flagship handset, the Galaxy S4, which is expected on March 14.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple Working on All-New Operating System

Wednesday July 29, 2026 11:39 am PDT by
Apple is developing an all-new operating system that is essentially a mix of tvOS, watchOS, and iOS, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In a report this week, he said the operating system will feature a grid of icons, widgets, and apps, along with customizable clock faces. The new software platform is intended for Apple's long-rumored smart home hub. With built-in facial recognition,...
Read Full Article
imac video apple feature

Apple Made Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever This Year

Wednesday July 29, 2026 12:03 pm PDT by
Apple this year acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014. This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019. Q.ai...
Read Full Article
Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra: Pre-Orders and Release Date

Thursday July 30, 2026 6:12 am PDT by
Apple has yet to reveal when the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra will be announced and released, but the dates usually follow a familiar pattern. Labor Day is September 7 this year. The last time the holiday fell on that day was in 2020, but the iPhone event that year was delayed until October due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, the last time Labor Day was on September 7 in a normal year was in ...
Read Full Article

Top Rated Comments

G
gpat
175 months ago
Apple is doomed.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D
DeathChill
175 months ago
Now let's compare the combined iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S sales with the combined Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S2 sales, shall we? And if that doesn't help, let's also add the iPhone 4 and the Galaxy S to the mix.

Are those ridiculous statistics really necessary? By now everybody already knows that Samsung sells more UNITS than Apple while Apple still has a larger profit margin because they only sell devices in the high-end price segment.

And unless Apple all of a sudden also enters the low-end price segment (i.e. smartphones WITHOUT contract for LESS than 99 USD), those figures won't magically change.
I can only assume you read the title and not the post. I thought they meant a combined total when I read the title but the chart and article point out that the 4S and 5 both outsold the S3 individually.


\/\/ Read the post.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D
DeathChill
175 months ago
Ya, my first thoughts in reading the article was that this is not the way to compare things.

Let's just add in more hardware versions until our total sales exceed their single item sales. :rolleyes:

It's blowing my mind how many people are not bothering to read the article before making these snarky comments.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
H
hpod
175 months ago
It's pretty obvious people cannot read.

Many above have already attempted to point it out that they're NOT combining the sales of the 4S and the 5, they're comparing them individually.

Stop. Go back. Re read story.

The S3 wasn't outsold by the combined sales of the 4S and 5...it was outsold by both of them, individually.

The 4S outsold the S3. Do you understand that yet?
The 5 ALSO outsold the S3. Are we understanding yet?

Learn to read, morons.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MonkeySee.... Avatar
MonkeySee....
175 months ago
If you're going to include 4S and 5, then you should also include S2 and Blaze. This is an unfair comparison - to take just the S3 but to include both 4S and 5.

But both of those will be below the SIII so whats the point?

Do people not understand this chart?? :confused:
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Winni Avatar
Winni
175 months ago
Now let's compare the combined iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S sales with the combined Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S2 sales, shall we? And if that doesn't help, let's also add the iPhone 4 and the Galaxy S to the mix.

Are those ridiculous statistics really necessary? By now everybody already knows that Samsung sells more UNITS than Apple while Apple still has a larger profit margin because they only sell devices in the high-end price segment.

And unless Apple all of a sudden also enters the low-end price segment (i.e. smartphones WITHOUT contract for LESS than 99 USD), those figures won't magically change.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

🔗 Related Apple News & Rumors

Stay updated with the latest Apple ecosystem news and verified rumors