Apple retains US smartphone lead as LG reports surprising positive growth, study says

ComScore's MobiLens service found Apple captured 43.6 percent of all U.S. subscribers during the three months ending in September, a gain of 1.9 percent compared to last year. The number is down 0.5 percent from last quarter's 44.1 percent share, though Apple has traditionally seen a dip moving into the annual iPhone refresh cycle.

Samsung came in second with a 27.6 percent marketshare, matching Apple's sequential quarters decline of 0.5 percent. Surprisingly, LG was the only OEM to gain subscribers over the three-month period, boosting its stake in the U.S. market to 9.4 percent, a 1.1 percent rise since the end of June.

Motorola and HTC rounded out the top five with a respective 4.8 percent and 3.3 percent share of the market, both down 0.1 percent sequentially.

Android and iOS again dominated in the September quarter, though Google's operating system gained 0.7 percent to end the period with a 52.3 percent share, while Apple's OS share shrunk 0.5 percent to end at 43.6 percent. Microsoft, BlackBerry and Symbian all saw zero movement and retained 2.9 percent, 1.2 percent and 0.1 percent shares of the market, respectively.

Apple's smartphone lead is expected to widen in the coming months as statistics reflect demand for the latest iPhone 6s, which saw a record-breaking 13 million unit sales over its first weekend of availability. Some investors came away unimpressed by the performance, however, saying the number should have been higher considering China's inclusion as a launch country.