While statistics for smartphone usage favored Apple's iPhone with 52% market share for July which doubled Samsung's smartphone usage, Samsung reportedly beat Apple out in "shipments" in the US in Q2, according to Counterpoint.

Here we go again with "shipments" versus sales. Even Samsung noted that they had weaker smartphone sales for Q2 (as profit is based on sales not shipments). Yet for the sake of argument, the stats are what they are as noted in Counterpoint's chart below.

Interestingly, the numbers representing shipments in the US tell a straight story. Samsung gets a noted boost because of just releasing the new Galaxy S5 in Q2 while Apple fans begin to hold off on purchases around the end of the quarter as they await new iPhones in Q3. It's an intersection of stats that "temporarily" tips the scale in Samsung's favor. That scale will flip Apple's way later this year after the new iPhones debut, as duly noted by Counterpoint below. Here are a few other noteworthy points made in the Counterpoint report:

• The US market was the lone bright spot for Samsung this quarter as market shares slipped globally and especially across key markets such as India and China
• The upcoming holiday season quarter Q4 as usual would certainly be an "Apple" quarter as it unveils its new iPhone in September which means Samsung will have to pull off a feat with the upcoming Galaxy Note 4 to maintain share as Galaxy S5 demand begins to taper off.
• Apple grew share and volumes in many other key markets globally (e.g. China)
• In terms of carriers, Apple was the leading smartphone brand at AT&T but lost the top spot to Samsung at Verizon and Sprint

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