Apple’s iPhone had a great Q4 last year when it sold a record 8.7 million units in the shopping season alone. However, despite the strong sales, the company’s smartphone lost marketshare from having 18.1 percent in Q3 2009 to 16.6 percent in Q4 2009. ABI Research reports the decline was due to an incline in the overall smartphones market.

The smartphones market grew 26 percent in Q4, thanks primarily to a surge in Google’s Android market share. Now you know why Google CEO Eric Schmidt attacked the iPad earlier. Nokia also increased its sales, which also accounts for a rise in the growth of smartphones.

Apple improved its market share on a year over year basis from 10.8 percent in Q4 2008 to 16.4 percent in Q4 2009.