Android Continues to Grow Its Market Share, 82 Million People in the U.S. Owned Smartphones in July

According to comScore, Google’s Android mobile operating system crossed the 40 percent threshold during the three months ending in July. Also, more than 82 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during this period.

Android claimed 41.8 percent of the U.S. smartphone platform market during the three months ending in July, up 5.4 percentage points from its 36.4 percent share in the preceding three-month period ending in April.

Apple’s iOS followed with 27.0 percent, up 1.0 percentage point from its 26.0 percent share in April. RIM’s BlackBerry was third with 21.7 percent, down 4.0 points from its 25.7 percent share in April.

Microsoft was fourth with 5.7 percent of the U.S. market, down 1.0 point from its 6.7 percent share in April. Meanwhile, Symbian had 1.9 percent of the market, down 0.4 percentage points from its 2.3 percent share in April.

During the three months ending in July, 82.2 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones, according to comScore. This was up 10 percent from the preceding three-month period.

Sending text messages to another phone remained the most popular form of mobile content usage in July, with 70.0 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers saying they participated in this activity, up 1.2 points from the preceding three-month period. Using browsers was second with a 41.1 percent response, up 2.0 points from April.

Using downloaded apps followed with 40.6 percent, up 2.8 points. Accessing social networking sites or blogs trailed with 30.1 percent, up 2.1 percentage points. Playing games got a 27.8 percent response, up 1.6 points, while listening to music on a mobile phone got a 20.3 percent response, up 2.3 points.

Recent figures from Nielsen show that 60 percent of U.S. mobile users own feature phones, while 40 percent own smartphones.

Of the 40 percent who own smartphones, 40 percent are on Android devices, 28 percent are on iPhones and 19 percent are on BlackBerrys, according to Nielsen.

“Among those who say they are likely to get a new smartphone in the next year, approximately one third say they want their next smartphone to be an iPhone and one third say they want an Android device,” according to the report.

However, Nielsen notes that 40 percent of “Innovators,” or the earliest of early adopters, listed Android as their next desired smartphone operating system. Apple’s iPhone followed with 32 percent.

Sources:

http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/8/comScore_Reports_July_2011_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/40-percent-of-u-s-mobile-users-own-smartphones-40-percent-are-android/