Apple's iPhone has reportedly outsold Android devices in the U.S. for the first time since 2012, marking a significant milestone for the iMaker.

The latest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have proved to be extremely popular for the company, boosting iPhone sales to record numbers. For the first time in three years, Apple has now managed to overtake Android in terms of sales in the U.S.

The news comes from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, which offers figures for sales during the fourth quarter of 2014, which included the lucrative holiday shopping season. According to this data, Apple sold more smartphones than all Android OEMs put together, albeit it overtook sales of Android devices only by a small margin. More specifically, iOS devices reportedly made up 47.7 percent of all sales, while Android devices accounted for 47.7 percent.

"In the US, Apple iOS overtook Android for the first time since this time in 2012, albeit by the slimmest 0.1% margin," reported Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. "While the success of the iPhone 6 and 6Plus is unprecedented, this quarter's performance also points to Apple having its strongest portfolio ever. With a range of devices available at different price points in both contract and pre-pay Apple was able to take advantage of a weaker Android offering at the premium end of the market."

"Throughout the holiday quarter, the iPhone 6 was the best-selling smartphone in the US and was also the most popular smartphone to give as a gift. Samsung retained its number two spot in the vendor chart with the Galaxy S5 which was the second best-selling smartphone," adds the report.

Outside of the U.S., Android's share reportedly declined by 3.8 percentage points to 66.1% in Europe, while iOS grew by 6.2 percentage points. The report further points out that Great Britain had the biggest role in this decline for Android, and the only European market where Android actually grew was Italy.

Microsoft's Windows Phone, meanwhile, recorded minimal growth only in France and Germany, but continues to have a tough time gaining more market share worldwide. On the other hand, the upcoming update to Windows 10 may boost its success.