ComScore January 2013 US smart phone market share: iPhone growing?

ComScore released its 2013 January US smart phone numbers, and Android took a hit on the chin while the iPhone gained ground.  On a month-to-month basis (as opposed to comScore's 3-month comparison):

• Google (-1.1 percentage point change)
• Apple (+1.5)
• Blackberry (-0.5)
• Microsoft (+0.2)

Top Smartphone Platforms 3 Month Avg. Ending Jan. 2013 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Oct. 2012 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
	Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
	Oct-12	Jan-13	Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers	100.0%	100.0%	N/A
Google	53.6%	52.3%	-1.3
Apple	34.3%	37.8%	3.5
BlackBerry	7.8%	5.9%	-1.9
Microsoft	3.2%	3.1%	-0.1
Symbian	0.6%	0.5%	-0.1

The benefit of comScore's 3-month comparison, is that it implies longer trends.  The downside is that you only see a small snapshot.  Here's the bigger picture:

So what's going on?  It certainly had nothing to do with a stoppage of defections from Blackberry, as their numbers continued to plunge at the same rate.

I think it's the combination of the anticipation of Samsung's GS-IV and the supply constraint of the Nexus 4.  I, for one, know that there are two significant events in the first-half of the year: Samsung's next generation phone and Google I|O.  CES 2013 proved somewhat disappointing, and while MWC 2013 had a nice splash of Android tablets (odd that manufacturers used a wireless confab to focus on their tablets, no?), there weren't any shockwaves at the annual wireless show.

But the thing is, if you break down the raw numbers, there were over 3 million additional iPhone users, compared to December 2012, while Android grew by just under half a million.  That's got to be disconcerting, considering that the best Android phones out there surpass the abilities of the iPhone 5, especially the Nexus 4, and the GS-III is still a better phone than the iPhone 5, even though the iPhone 5 is much newer.

What's also mind-boggling: that Apple's sales are shooting up, concurrently as its stock price has plummeted.  It's like the world has done a backward 360.  Back when Apple's stock price soared, it was being eclipsed by Android's phenomenal market growth; watch your market share plummet but see your stock price balloon.

There goes the theory of rational markets and decision-making.