iPhones dominate the bestseller list for 2015 in UK

Apple can claim smartphone bragging rights over Samsung in the UK, as end-of-year data for 2015 suggests it mopped the floor with its arch rival.

Figures from price comparison and switching service uSwitch suggest that no fewer than six of Britain's top ten bestselling handsets were iPhones this year.

And six was the magic number for Apple as the 16GB model of the iPhone 6 outsold the rest in 2015, followed by the 2-year-old iPhone 5S.

The 64GB version of the iPhone 6 came in third, with the base model of this year's iPhone 6S in fourth place.

The figures make bleak reading for Samsung, as its flagship Galaxy S6 only just cracked the top five, its 32GB incarnation pushing the iPhone 5C into sixth.

On a more positive note for Sammy, its Galaxy Note 4 phablet managed to outsell the iPhone 6 Plus and 6S Plus, coming in ninth place, while neither of Apple's oversized handsets made the top ten.

uSwitch also provided sales figures for December, and they suggested that the iPhone 6S was king during the final month of the year.

The upper reaches of the list were also Apple-dominated, but Samsung's curvy Galaxy S6 Edge took fifth place, and the South Korean firm also snagged four other spots on the chart.

According to uSwitch, Samsung missed a trick by neglecting to release the Galaxy Note 5 in the UK, in favour of ranging the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus.

"As our bestseller list shows, Samsung is the only other mobile maker to have garnered some of that mass appeal, but it's still always the bridesmaid, never the bride," said Rob Kerr, mobiles expert at the price comparison service.

"Ranging the Note 5 in the UK could have pushed Samsung further up the bestseller charts, but it backed the wrong horse, believing demand would be tipped towards the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus."