NPD: Apple’s iPhones Killed Competition in Q4 2011

This is not the first time a research firm calculates Apple’s Q4 smartphone share for 2011 to put the iPhone on top, but it can’t hurt to have The NPD Group confirm the numbers.

According to the firm, Apple beat Samsung and LG to become the best-selling U.S. handset maker in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The Cupertino giant’s three available iPhone models - iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS - combined to capture 43 percent of the smartphone market in the U.S.

Ross Rubin, executive director, Connected Intelligence for The NPD Group, cites the impressive specs of the iPhone 4S as the key driver for this growth.

Rubin said customers were “Attracted by a faster processor, improved camera and the Siri speech-driven agent. […] iPhone buyers paid a premium for the iPhone 4S, making it the top-selling handset in Q4,” said Rubin. “The iPhone 4S outsold the iPhone 4 by 75 percent, and outsold the iPhone 3GS, available for free on AT&T, five to one.”