A new study from research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows that Apple is growing faster in the smartphone market than Android.

The launch of the iPhone 4S in October helped Apple’s growth rate in the last 12 weeks of sales, according to the new research. Kantar says that Apple’s share over that time was 44.9 percent, while Android’s was 44.8 percent.

Apple’s share in the UK is now at 34 percent, up from 22 percent a year ago, according to Kantar.

“Apple has continued its strong sales run in the US, UK and Australia over the Christmas period,” said Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director. “Overall, Apple sales are now growing at a faster rate than Android across the nine countries we cover.”

It is worth noting that while Android has hundreds of models, Apple only has one new model, iPhone 4S. The company also still sells the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS can still be purchased as well.