This is pretty standard terminology for marketshare. &quot;Apple takes smartphone market share from Android thanks to strong iPhone sales&quot; [1] and similar. The idea is that the marketshare was one place, and another company was able to grab it. Maybe through a better product, maybe through cheaper pricing, maybe through a big ad campaign, maybe through mismanagement at the first company, maybe through changes in trends and styles, lots of possible reasons. Whether they &quot;earned&quot; it or not in some moral sense isn&#x27;t usually particularly decidable or relevant.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.geekwire.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;apple-takes-smartphone-market-share-from-android-thanks-to-strong-iphone-sales&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.geekwire.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;apple-takes-smartphone-market-s...</a>