iOS No. 1 OS in US once again thanks to iPhone 5

New data from research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech indicated on Tuesday that Apple's iOS had reclaimed the top U.S. spot from Google's Android, thanks to the iPhone 5.

But just barely - in the 12-week period leading up to and after the iPhone 5's release (ending Oct. 28), iOS earned enough new users to claim 48.1 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, while Android now holds 46.7 percent, according to the report.

Apple and Android are ehttp://techradar.com/ver at odds for the top spot, and Kantar Worldpanel's Global Consumer Insight Director Dominic Sunnebo commented in the latest report that the last time Apple stole the crown from Android was when the iPhone 4S came out in 2011.

Sunnebo added a prediction that Apple will surpass its prehttp://techradar.com/vious high of 49.3 percent, which would mark its highest ehttp://techradar.com/ver chunk of the market, within the next two quarters.

Huge growth for Apple

A report from digital business analytics firm comScore in early October claimed that Apple and Android's market shares were growing, though Android was still in first place as of July of 2012.

At that point, Google's mobile operating system held 52.2 percent of the U.S. market, while Apple's iOS comprised a mere 33.4 percent.

If those figures are accurate, then Tuesday's report from Kantar Worldpanel indicates huge growth for Apple.

That's mostly thanks to sales of the iPhone 5, 60 percent of which went to existing iPhone users looking to upgrade, while 13 percent of iPhone 5 adopters switched from Android, and 6 percent switched from BlackBerry, according to Kantar Worldpanel's research.

Android's global dominance

That same report indicated that Android had grown the most in the prehttp://techradar.com/vious year, though sales of Apple's iPhone 5 had not yet been taken into account.

Midway through 2012 a different report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech claimed that Android was the dominant OS worldwide, making up more than 50 percent of smartphones in sehttp://techradar.com/veral markets.

At the time, Kantar Worldpanel attributed that success to Android phones being cheaper and earning the loyalty of their customers.

Going back to the latest research, it seems Android remains dominant in Europe and the UK, though Apple maintains a strong presence there as well.

Despite Apple's recent http://techradar.com/victory, upcoming Android phones like the inehttp://techradar.com/vitable Samsung Galaxy S4 and the rumored LG Optimus G2 and Sony Odin could put Google back on top.