Apple's dependence on high carrier subsidies for the iPhone is giving Android devices an advantage in parts of Europe, especially the south, suggests research firm IDC. The group notes that Apple had over 20 percent of the US and UK smartphone markets last year. But in Greece and Portugal, two of the countries hardest hit by European economic problems, the iPhone took just 5 and 9 percent shares, respectively. Shipments of smartphones costing over $300 before subsidies dipped below 50 percent in those countries.
