/ 31 August 2011

Android smartphones gain ground in US

Google's Android software strengthened its grip on the US smartphone market, powering nearly 42% of handsets as of July, an industry tracker says.

Google’s Android software strengthened its grip on the United States smartphone market, powering nearly 42% of handsets as of July, industry tracker comScore reported on Tuesday.

Android’s share of the US smartphone market grew to 41.8% from 36.4% at the start of April, according to comScore.

In that same three-month period, Apple’s share of the market rose slightly to 27% while BlackBerry maker Research In Motion saw its ranks of subscribers erode 4% to 21.7%, comScore reported.

The portion of the market using smartphones powered by Microsoft software shrank to 5.7% from 6.7% and Symbian’s share dipped to 1.9% from 2.3%.

The number of US smartphone owners climbed 10% to 82.2-million in the three months ending in July, while the overall number of mobile phone users was 234-million, according to comScore.

Samsung was the most popular handset maker with 25.5% of the market and LG second with 20.9%, comScore reported.

Apple’s beloved iPhones were the fourth most prevalent handsets and accounted for 9.5% of the overall US market, according to the industry tracker. — AFP