According to the research firm Canalys, HTC, the Taiwanese-based company is the number one provider of smartphones in the U.S. during the third quarter of 2011. Their research shows that HTC was able to ship a total of 5.77 million smartphones in the U.S. which accounts for 43% of the total smartphone shares in the market. Samsung placed second with 4.9 million smartphones which was led by its Galaxy-class products while Apple claimed the third spot with 4.6 million iPhones sold during the third quarter in the U.S. market. The research also mentioned that Blackberry-maker RIM showed a considerable drop in the U.S. market share. Reports show that RIM has only 9% market share in the smartphone industry for the third quarter. Chris Jones, an analyst for the firm commented on the research results remarking that "This is an awesome achievement for HTC, which has built a premium brand in a highly competitive market in just a few short years".

According to Bloomberg News, HTC disclosed the company's strategy which they believed to be is the key in claiming the top spot for the smartphone industry. HTC adapted the anti-Apple strategy which means that the company is opting to go the opposite direction that Apple is going. This means that if Apple is being secretive about their products, HTC claims to be "open" meaning that the public could have a glance of their products in the planning and pre-production stage. If Apple opts to be exclusive about their products, HTC prefers to collaborate with all carriers. When Apple is all about propriety, HTC is all about collaboration. If apple denies the option for customizing to their users, HTC prefers customizing for everyone.

Steve Elfman, the president for network operation in Sprint supports this strategy, saying, according to Bloomberg, that "HTC will make products for you and the company certainly don't do design work on Apple products."

Despite landing the top spot for this quarter, experts expressed doubts on how HTC would be able to hold this title. Chris Jones, an analyst for the firm commented on the research results expressed the same sentiment saying that "HTC will never be No. 1 again now they're butting heads against others who so far have been immovable." One thing that HTC lacks is the brand cache of other competitors like Apple, Samsung, Sony Corp., and even Microsoft Corp.-based phones.

Peter Chou, Chief Executive Officer for HTC said that he was aware of this looming challenge for the company further adding that "Developing a good brand is really hard." This is the reason why HTC decided to stick with the strategy that they are implementing in order to form stronger ties in the U.S. and global market.