The Apple iPhone 5 is another runaway success for Apple and has been flying off the shelves since its September release. It was on backorder for some time after its release and it was only recently that Apple caught up with supplies to match the phone’s high demand. Today we can now realize why Apple seemed a little unprepared for how many of the iPhone 5 it could sell initially as it seems that the iPhone 5 has had the strongest start sales-wise in the U.S. over any previous iPhone.

A week or so ago we were rather surprised to tell of reports that sources in China did not think the iPhone 5 would be as successful as the iPhone 4S. This led at least one analyst to drop Apple’s earnings estimate for fiscal year 2013 /2014 as well as cutting back shares price targets. The suggestion that the iPhone 5 would not do as well as the iPhone 4S alarmed many people and there were suggestions that perhaps interest in the iPhone line had now peaked. However, the latest sales figures tell a different story as in the US at least, over the last 12 weeks the sales of the iPhone 5 have accounted for 53.3% of smartphone sales overall.

The latest data came from Kantar Worldpanel research as reported by Apple Insider and signifies that the introduction of the iPhone 5 led to a remarkable soar so that Apple share of sales reached their highest point ever in the US market. When comparing figures from the US to last year we can see that the sales of the iPhone in the 12 weeks ending November 27, 2011 accounted for 35.8% of all smartphone sales over the same time. However the figure this year for the 12 weeks ending November 25, 2012 was sharply higher at 53.5%, up an astonishing 17.5% and the first time that Apple’s share of the smartphone market in the U.S went over 50%. The time periods concerned of course include the time when the iPhone 5 was first released.

Google’s Android share of the US smartphone market fell though, down from a 52.8% share over the same 12 weeks in 2011 to 41.9% at the end of November 2012, down 10.9%. Meanwhile RIM’s fortunes continued to slide from a 7% share in the same period last year to only a 1.4% share for BlackBerry devices this year. However we shouldn’t be too shocked at this as the new BlackBerry 10 and devices running it are not due to be unveiled before a big event on January 30. RIM has definitely put all its eggs in one basket with the new operating system and we imagine that once available, RIMS’ BB10 might start to swell the coffers again.

Global consumers interest director at Kantar Worldpanel Com Tech, Dominic Sunnebo, talked of this latest milestone for Apple and anticipates further sales during this month. Outside the US though, Samsung stayed top of smartphone share in the 5 largest countries of Europe where the company’s phones held 44.3% of smartphone market share above Apple in second spot with a much lower 25.3% over the same 12 week timeframes. It seems then that although Apple is not doing as well outside of the US, the support within the States is still very much evident and that iPhone popularity there is actually growing.

We’d really like to hear your thoughts on this. Are you an Apple iPhone enthusiast and if so would you say that your interest in the line is still as strong as ever? Are you from the US or another country? Maybe the idea that sales of the iPhone line have reached a plateau now sounds ridiculous in the light of this latest data on the iPhone 5, especially where the US is concerned? Let us know with your comments.