Android reaches 1 in 5 smartphone users in US: comScore

By Giselle Tsirulnik

November 4, 2010

Google's Android OS is going head to head with Apple's iPhone

The industry was abuzz when it came down to Apple’s iPhone and the potential for marketing via the platform. But comScore research shows that there is a new player in town, reaching more than one in five smartphone subscribers in the United States.

Google’s Android-enabled devices now reach more than one in five U.S. smartphone subscribers. With a total of 58.7 million people in the U.S., that is a big chunk of the smartphone market.

Android in the house
Brands, marketers and developers are taking note. There are now more than 100,000 applications in the Android Market and brands and advertisers are starting to ramp up their advertising on the platform as well.

ComScore’s research found that Research In Motion was the leading mobile smartphone platform in the United States, with 37.3 percent share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, followed by Apple with 24.3 percent share.

Google continues to gain ground in the market, rising 6.5 percentage points to capture 21.4 percent of smartphone subscribers.

Microsoft accounted for 10 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Palm rounded out the top five with 4.2 percent.

Despite losing share to Android, most smartphone platforms continue to gain subscribers.

OEM market share
For the three month average period ending in September, 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices.

Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 23.5 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, up 0.7 percentage points from the three month period ending in June.

LG ranked second with 21.1 percent share, followed by Motorola (18.4 percent share), RIM (9.3 percent share, up 0.5 percentage points) and Nokia (7.4 percent share).

Mobile content usage
In September, 67 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 1.4 percentage points versus the prior three month period, while browsers were used by 35.1 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 2.2 percentage points).

Subscribers who used downloaded applications comprised 33.1 percent of the mobile audience, representing an increase of 2.5 percentage points.

Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 1.8 percentage points, representing 23.2 percent of mobile subscribers.

Playing games represented 23.1 percent of the mobile audience (up 0.5 percentage points), while listening to music increased 0.8 percentage points, representing 15.2 percent of subscribers.