Apple reclaims top spot in US smartphone market from Android, but struggles in Europe

New ComTech market share figures have revealed Apple iOS has reclaimed the top spot in the US market, with higher sales than all Google Android manufacturers combined, despite struggling in several of Europe’s largest economies.

The figures reveal Apple’s US market share has hit 48.1% off strong sales of the iPhone 5, while the combined market share of all Android vendors in the US, including Samsung, fell to 46.7% during the quarter to October 28.

This is a dramatic reversal from the equivalent quarter last year, when Apple’s iOS claimed 22.4% of the market compared to 63.3% for Android.

In contrast, Apple’s market share continues to trail in the UK (Apple has 32.7% compared to 54.2% for Android and RIM at 7.9%), Germany (Apple at 17%, Android at 73.9% and RIM at 2.5%) France (Apple at 17.9%, Android at 61.6% and Bada at 7.4%), Italy (Apple at 19%, Android at 56.7% and Windows at 11.7%) and Spain (Apple at 4%, Android at 81.7% and Symbian at 4.9%).

In aggregate, across the five EU countries, Android has 63.9% market share, compared to Apple on 21.2%, RIM on 5.3%, Windows on 4.7% and Symbian on 2.8%.