Apple passes Android for smartphone lead

Booming demand for the latest iPhone model helped Apple beat all phones using Google's Android platform in the U.S. smartphone market in the fourth quarter. Research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said Apple's share of the U.S. market doubled from a year ago to 44.9 percent in the October to December period, just beating Google's Android smartphones, which slipped to 44.8 percent from 50 percent.