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