Driven by Android, Google showed the highest growth among top US smartphone platform providers between July and October 2010, according to new comScore MobiLens data.
Google Share Climbs 38%
While Google Android only took third place in the US smartphone market in the three-month-average ending October 2010 with 23.5% marketshare, this was about a 38% increase from 17% marketshare held in the three-month-average ending July 2010.
No other leading US smartphone platform provider experienced anywhere close to that rate of growth in the same time period. Market leader RIM (provider of the Blackberry platform) actually lost about 9% of its share, dropping from 39.3% to 35.8%.
Meanwhile, number two Apple slightly grew its share about 3%, from 23.8% to 24.6%. Number four Microsoft lost almost 18% share, tumbling from 11.8% to 9.7%. Palm came in a distant fifth with 20% share loss, dropping from 4.9% to 3.9%.
In total, 60.7 million people in the US owned smartphones during the three months ending in October, up 14% from the preceding three-month period, representing one out of every four mobile subscribers.
Mobile Content Usage Climbs
In October 2010, 68.1% of US mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 3% from the prior three-month period. Meanwhile, browsers were used by 36.2% of US mobile subscribers (up almost 8%). Subscribers who used downloaded applications comprised 33.7% of the mobile audience, representing an increase of about 7%.
Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 11%, representing 24.2% of mobile subscribers. Playing games represented 23.7 percent of the mobile audience (up 6%), while listening to music increased 6%, representing 15.4% of subscribers.
Samsung Remains Top Mobile OEM
For the three-month average period ending in October 2010, 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 24.2% of US mobile subscribers, up almost 5% from the three-month period ending in July 2010. LG ranked second with 21% share (down about 1%), followed by Motorola (17.7% share, down almost 11%), RIM (9.3% share, up about 3%) and Nokia (7.1% share, down almost 9%).
Apple iOS, Android Most Desired Smartphone Platforms
The Apple iOS and Android smartphone operating systems are the most desired upgrades, with their first and second place rankings varying by mobile phone user demographic, according to new data from The Nielsen Company.
Among all likely US smartphone upgraders from August-October 2010, nearly one-third (30%) desire to upgrade to a device running Apple iOS. Android follows closely with 28% desiring this platform.
No other operating system approaches the popularity of Apple iOS or Android among likely smartphone upgraders. RIM Blackberry was a distant third, chosen by 13% of respondents.
