Samsung outsold Apple in the US during 2012, despite fourth quarter iPhone sales surge

Samsung shipped more mobile phones in the US (including smartphones and featurephones) than Apple during 2012, despite a surge in iPhone sales during the lead-up to Christmas, according to new figures.

The Strategy Analytics figures, republished by TechCrunch, show Apple’s total shipments for the full year of 2012 stood at 43.7 million (up from 29.7 million a year earlier, behind Samsung’s total shipments of 53 million (up slightly from 52.3 million a year earlier).

However, in the quarter leading up to Christmas, Apple shipped 17.7 million iPhones off the back of the release of the iPhone 5, compared to 16.8 million mobile phones by Samsung.

The overall US market for mobile phones shrank from 186.8 million for the full year of 2011 to 166.9 million in 2012, although fourth quarter shipments were up slightly from 50.2 million units to 52.0 million units.

Bearing the brunt of the shrinking market was third placed LG, which saw its full year shipments fall from 30.5 million in 2011 to 20.5 million in 2012, with fourth quarter shipments falling from 6.9 million in 2011 to just 4.7 million in 2012.