“Apple iPhone drive huge Q1”

Survey shows 44.5 percent of people who bought a smart phone in December chose an iPhone, almost twice as many as in October. Android declined from 61.6 percent in October to 46.9 percent in December, bringing Google’s mobile platform almost on a tie with Apple’s. Android, however, continues to lead among all U.S. smartphone users with 46.3 percent, The data from Nielsen corroborates NPD’s findings from last week, which showed that Apple's market share rose from 26 percent in the third quarter to 43 percent in October and November while Android's went down from 60 percent to 47 percent. According to NPD’s list, the three best-selling smart phones were the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS, noting that Apple’s small number of handsets managed to beat scores of Android smart phones. U.S. mobile consumers had smartphones as of December 2011, and that figure is growing quickly, so in 2012, as more people buy a smartphone, the battle between iPhone and Android is set to get even hotter,

"Apple Close the Gap on Android Dominance"

Apple is preparing to report the biggest quarter in the company’s storied history on January 24th, fueled by solid Mac sales, strong iPad demand and unprecedented iPhone sales. And despite Wall Street’s high expectations, a number of analysts are still expecting Apple to beat the Street when it reports its first fiscal quarter earnings next Thursday. RBC Capital Market’s Mike Abram sky on Wednesday told clients that an “iPhone frenzy” in Apple’s December quarter will result in a solid first-quarter beat, and the analyst raised his target on Apple stock as a result. Read on for more.

Abram sky sees Apple reporting revenue of $40.2 billion for the first fiscal quarter, representing 50% growth over the December quarter in 2010, with earnings of $11.00 per share. Wall Street is expecting Apple to report $38.7 billion in revenue and EPS of $9.95.

RBC estimates that Apple shipped 32 million iPhones in the first quarter, including 8.5 million iPhones shipped to AT&T, 4.2 million shipped to Verizon and 1.5 million units shipped to Sprint, and another 17.8 million iPhone shipped internationally. Abram sky notes that end user sales were solid as well, with “unprecedented iPhone sell-through,” and “stock outs in multiple regions.”

The firm also sees Apple having shipped 13 million iPads in the first quarter along with 5.1 million Mac computers. In the second fiscal quarter, Abram sky is looking for guidance of $32 billion in revenue and earnings of $8.00 per share while the Street’s consensus sits at $31.8 billion and $7.94. He also reiterated his Outperform rating on Apple stock and raised his price target to $525 from $500.