Free iPhone 3GS helps Apple grab smartphone crown

Apple stole the smartphone sales crown from Samsung during the fourth quarter of 2011, research firm Juniper Research reported Monday.

While Samsung has cranked out a spate of new handsets last year Apple kept up, in part, by chopping the price of older models.

Apple cut the price of the iPhone 4 to $100 with a two-year contract, and distributed the iPhone 3GS for free with a two-year contract after it introduced the iPhone 4S in October.

Apple also added Sprint to its roster of U.S. carriers, which now include AT&T and Verizon.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based Mac maker shipped one-in-four smartphones, accounting for 37 million of the 149 million smartphones shipped worldwide, according to Juniper.

Samsung, however, is growing quickly. The South Korea-based electronics conglomerate increased its share of the smartphone market to 21.7% during the fourth quarter of 2011, up from 4.7% during the first quarter of 2010, according to Juniper.

“The scale of Samsung’s product range is saturating the market,” Juniper Research analyst Daniel Ashdown said in a a statement. “Apple has to counter products like the Galaxy Ace in order to maintain the visibility of its brand.”

Research In Motion held steady — in terms of shipments, if not marketshare — shipping 14.4 million handsets, down just 0.7% from the year-ago quarter.

Nokia, by contrast, saw smartphone sales plunge 31% during the fourth-quarter from the year-ago period as it prepared to begin pushing a passel of new smartphones based on Microsoft’s smartphone software.

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