Apple's iPhone 12 series and Samsung's Galaxy S20 FE 5G kept the US market afloat in Q4 2020

The Cupertino-based tech giant easily dominated the entire global mobile industry during the first months of iPhone 12 availability, so it obviously comes as no surprise that the company also topped its domestic vendor charts between October and December 2020.

As a consequence of many potential buyers not being able to get their hands on a 5G-enabled iPhone 12 Pro or 12 Pro Max in time for the holidays, analysts also expect some sales to "spill over into Q1 2021." That's bad news for Samsung, which was the only other company that pulled off a (small) Q4 2020 win stateside, gaining 5 percent in volume from the same quarter of the previous year.
Curiously enough, the latest Counterpoint analysis makes absolutely no mention of LG, Nokia, Google, Alcatel, Motorola, ZTE, and Coolpad's abysmal Q4 2020 performances. All these brands took significant hits of anywhere between 12 and 87 percent during the typically auspicious holiday season of last year, as demand for sub-$300 devices fell off a cliff due to a number of different economic factors.