Apple Inc. saw its global handset market share fall last month on weakening demand for the iPhone 5, its first long-term evolution phone, a report showed Friday.

The Silicon Valley firm's market share reached 16 percent in December, down 3 percentage points from the previous month, according to the report by Hong Kong-based researcher Counterpoint Technology Market Research.

The decline, which comes three months after the iPhone 5 launch, was partly attributed to North American and European mobile operators who scaled back subsidies for the device.

The report said the high subsidy for Apple phones, fixed at roughly double of those for Android phones, weighed on the mobile carriers.

Chinese mobile operators, meanwhile, saw a growing number of people purchase iPhone 4S phones instead of the iPhone 5 as they opted for the design of the earlier model.

Top smartphone maker Samsung Electronics Co. kept its lead with a 29 percent market share, while Nokia Corp. saw its share increase 2 percentage points to 23 percent, according to the report. (Yonhap News)