Apple dominating US touch phone market

Apple should already the clear market leader in the US for touchscreen phones by the end of the year, a new study claims from Strategy Analytics. The research group estimates that Apple will have shipped 6.3 million iPhones in the US alone by the end of the year, or enough to garner 35 percent of business for touchscreen cellphones in the country. The success is in large part due to Apple popularizing the interface with relatively little competition in the short term, according to the group.

Second place is expected to be Samsung, which could ship 4.9 million touch-driven phones and net 27.1 percent of the market on the back of the Glyde, Instinct, and other current or upcoming devices. LG is poised to follow in third with 3.9 million phones (21.5 percent share) through the Dare, Voyager, and Vu, while Palm's phones should top 1.8 million (9.9 percent) and HTC gets just 400,000 units (2.2 percent).

That share will become increasingly difficult for Apple to retain, says Strategy Analytics' Neil Mawston. In addition to the Instinct and other phones already known to exist, the analyst believes the BlackBerry Thunder and Nokia 5800 XpressMedia could put increased pressure on Apple if it hopes to hold on to or expand what marketshare it gets this year.

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