Apple Inc. passed Samsung Electronics Co. to become the top mobile phone maker in the U.S. for the first time, scoring a victory in the companies’ battle for global dominance of the mobile-device market.

Apple sold 17.7 million mobile phones in the U.S. during the fourth quarter, a 38 percent jump from a year earlier, research firm Strategy Analytics said Friday in a statement. That gave it 34 percent of the market, topping Samsung, which sold 16.8 million handsets for a 32 percent market share. Total shipments grew 4 percent in the quarter to 52 million phones.

The U.S. market is a stronghold for Apple as it faces intensifying competition from Samsung and other smartphone makers using Google Inc.’s Android operating system. Samsung, which also makes cheaper handsets with less sophisticated functions, is the global leader in mobile phones with more than 100 million units sold last quarter.

“Apple’s success has been driven by its popular ecosystem of iPhones and App Store, generous carrier subsidies, and extensive marketing around the new iPhone 5 model,” said Neil Mawston, an analyst at Strategy Analytics in London. 

(Bloomberg)