comScore: Android and Samsung Top Choices Among Smartphone Subscribers in U

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The next time you are caught in a heated debate with your non-Android buddies over which platform is on top, you may want to quote the latest quarterly data on key trends in the US mobile phone industry, which was just released by comScore MobiLens for the period ending January 2012.

The survey reveals that, in U.S., Android OS still holds a commanding lead over other mobile platforms, securing 48.6% of the smartphone market. This is a 2.3% increase from the previousquarter. Taking second place is Apple?s iOS, which grabbed a 29.5% market share, an improvement of 1.4 percentage points. The third and fourth positions are held by RIM and Microsoft, with 15.2 percent and 4.4 percent market share, respectively. Symbian made a surprise appearance after grabbing 1.5% market share, making it the fifth most popular OS among smartphone subscribers.

comScore

When it comes to OEM market share in the US, it?s good news all around for Samsung. The rising star of the Android ecosystem topped the list with 25.4% share of mobile subscribers. LG came second with 19.7% share, followed by Motorola with 13.2%. Although Apple has expanded the iPhone?s availability to more carriers (AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon) and launched the iPhone 4S in October, it only managed to capture a market share of 12.8%. Rounding out the list is RIM, with 6.6% of the market.

According to the report, in January, the number of smartphone users in the US has passed the magic number of 100 million for the first time. To be specific, there are now 101.3 million smartphone subscribers in the country.

As for mobile content usage among the 30,000 smartphone subscribers that were surveyed, 74.6% said they use their smartphones to send text messages. Other usages include downloading applications (48.6%), browsing (48.5%), accessing social network sites (35.7%), playing games (31.8%) and listening to music (24.5%).

Detractors of the Android OS often argue that the iOS has more apps. While that may be the case, we?re rooting for quality over quantity. With the widening lead between Android OS and its closest competitor, Apple iOS, it wouldn?t be too much to expect from developers to turn their attention to creating more functional and aesthetically pleasing apps for the Android platform.

http://www.androidauthority.com/comscore-android-smartphone-market-share-60725/