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iPhone continues to dominate rivals in U.S.

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 8:41PM EST

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Apple’s three available iPhone models combined to handily dominate rival smartphones on the three top wireless carriers in the United States last quarter. Verizon, AT&T and Sprint have now each reported their first-quarter financial results and in doing so, they have also released smartphone sales and activations figures. Enders Analysis analyst Benedict Evans charted the combined data and found that Apple’s iPhone line continued its reign in the first quarter despite the soured Apple sentiment.

AT&T reported iPhone activations totaling 4.8 million units in the first quarter — representing the vast majority of its smartphone activations in Q1 — while Verizon said it sold 4 million iPhones and Sprint sold 1.5 million units. As Evans points out on his blog, the iPhone’s combined sales total accounts for 57% of all smartphones in Q1.

Moving outside of just smartphones, Apple’s iPhone lineup made up 49% of all contract phone sales during the first quarter. All Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry smartphones sales combined represented 37% of contract phone sales, while various feature phone models made up the remaining 14%.

Evans notes that the numbers combine smartphone sales and activations due to the way AT&T reports its smartphone figures, but it still paints a reasonably accurate picture of the mobile market in the U.S.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.