Android Remains Top Mobile Platform in the U.S.

Web metrics firm comScore reports that 234 million Americans above the age of 13 were using mobile devices during the three months prior to Thanksgiving. The Web metrics firm's new survey of more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers also demonstrates that Google's Android remained ahead in the mobile OS platform race with a 46.9 percent market share. In the U.S. mobile handset market overall, Samsung was the top device maker with a 25.6 percent share. Second-place LG achieved a 20.5 percent share, and Motorola Mobility came in third with a 13.7 percent share.

Apple's share of the market overall rose from 9.8 percent in August to 11.2 percent in November, driven by pent-up demand for the iconic device maker's new iPhone 4S. By contrast, Research In Motion's BlackBerry sales slipped from 7.1 percent in August to 6.5 percent in November.

During the three months through Nov. 24, 72.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile devices -- a rise of 2.1 percentage points from last August, comScore reports. And 44.9 percent of all U.S. mobile subscribers downloaded applications during the latest survey period -- up 3.3 percentage points.

Smartphone Ownership Climbs

According to comScore, 91.4 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones at the end of the firm's latest three-month survey period. Smartphone ownership rose by a robust 8 percent between August and November. Android's share of the smartphone market segment rose 3.1 percentage points between August and November. Though Apple's iOS remained in second place with a 28.7 percent share, the platform's 1.4 percentage point rise did not keep pace with Android's steeper growth trajectory.

RIM ranked third in comScore's latest survey with a 16.6 percent share -- down 3.1 percentage points from August. Microsoft's Windows Phone platform also lost one-half of a percentage point during the same period.

Though Microsoft's new Mango release hit the U.S. market during the survey period, the Windows Phone platform trailed behind the market leaders with a 5.2 percent share. Additionally, Nokia's Symbian platforms still held on to a 1.5 percent smartphone market share.

Mobile Browsing Growth

The number of handset users accessing social-networking sites or blogs on their devices grew 2.1 percentage points to 33 percent of all U.S. mobile subscribers, comScore said. Moreover, 29.7 percent reported mobile gaming activities, while 21.7 percent said they listened to music on their handsets.

On the browser front, comScore said 44.4 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers were surfing the Internet on their handsets - up 2.3 percentage points since August. According to Net Applications, Apple's Safari mobile browser for smartphones and tablets led the field with a 55 percent share at the end of November, while Android's browser ranked third (16.4 percent) behind the Opera Mini mobile browser (20.1 percent). More than 80 percent of U.S. mobile users 18 to 22 years of age access the Internet outside the home, with 67 percent using the mobile Internet at least monthly, Forrester Research reported last month. Still, U.S. adults 23 to 31 years of age have the highest uptake of smartphones and are most likely to use the mobile Internet on their mobile device.

"They use their mobiles for a wide range of activities, from playing games and listening to music to looking up directions," wrote Forrester Research analyst Gina Sverdlov in a blog post. "Two in three online 'Gen Yers' fall into our SuperConnecteds Mobile Technographics segment."

By contrast, only 33 percent of U.S. residents between the ages of 46 and 55 own a smartphone. Additionally, only 20 percent of Americans 56 to 66 years of age use the mobile Internet regularly, Sverdlov noted.

[src: Yahoo News]

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