Google?s Android operating system took the lead among smartphone platforms with 31.2 percent market share after two short months in second place, according to data from comScore Inc.?s MobiLens.

The comScore report focused on key trends in the United States mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending January 2011. The study, for which comScore surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers, found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 24.9 percent market share.

"These trends confirm the rapid rise of Android," said Olivier Griot, principal of Blue Rain Media, Boston. "Apple had been maintaining share despite the large quantity of Android devices launched in the market.

"It will be interesting to see how the numbers evolve in the next three months, in particular the impact of the iPhone launch on Verizon," he said.

"For publishers, the good news is the continuing rise in the number of people who browse the Web or use apps on their mobile devices."

ComScore specializes in measuring the digital world and is a source of digital business analytics.

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

Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top original equipment manufacturer with 24.9 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, up 0.7 percentage points from the three-month period ending in October.

LG ranked second with 20.8 percent share, followed by Motorola (16.5 percent), Research In Motion (8.6 percent) and Apple (7.0 percent).

Smartphone platform market share
According to comScore, 65.8 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in January 2011, up 8 percent from the preceding three-month period.

Google?s Android captured the No. 1 ranking among smartphone platforms for the first time in January with 31.2 percent market share.

RIM?s BlackBerry ranked second with 30.4 percent market share, followed by Apple?s iOS with 24.7 percent.

Microsoft?s Windows Phone 7 with 8 percent and HP?s Palm webOS with 3.2 percent rounded out the top five.

Mobile content usage
In January, 68.1 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, while browsers were used by 37.0 percent of subscribers?up 0.8 percentage points.

Subscribers who used downloaded applications comprised 35.3 percent of the mobile audience, representing an increase of 1.6 percentage points.

Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 1.1 percentage points, representing 25.3 percent of mobile subscribers.

Playing games represented 23.7 percent of the mobile audience, while listening to music represented 16.5 percent?up 1.1 percentage points.

Mary Park, currently a New York-based mobile media consultant and advisor, was previously a cofounder of Crisp Wireless, a mobile rich media company. She responded to an inquiry with the following statement:

I can?t say that I am too surprised by any of the trends, although the jump in Android smartphones and drop in RIM devices is a bit jarring for such a short time period. 

To state the obvious, Android has clearly been gaining market share due to support by multiple carriers and OEMs, although I wonder if Apple will increase market share over the next few months with the iPhone launching on Verizon.

In regards to actual implications for publishers and advertisers, I don?t know that these numbers should make everyone stampede towards Android development without some consideration, or even iPhone for that matter. 

I?ve always been and still am a big believer in the mobile Web, and the growing market share of smartphone subscribers overall only makes me more enthusiastic about the potential of mobile Web in terms of reach and functionality. 

Most publishers don?t have unlimited budgets nor the technical resources to develop a native application for every operating platform, much less contend with some inherent fragmentation issues. 

Also, I see the storefronts presenting one more barrier to virality. 

I?ve seen many publishers develop apps that flounder and sink in the storefronts. 

Even applications need marketing for discoverability as the storefronts get increasingly crowded and so why not market directly to the audience and point them to a URL?

Publishers should have a robust mobile web product underpinning any mobile strategy with strategic applications for those loyal diehard fans that expect and demand more, but I see this as more of customer service function anyway.  

Advertisers need to go where the content is - where the users are - and so while some breakout applications may have significant traffic, I really doubt the sustainability of these applications. 

While the growing number of Android devices is hard to ignore, should everyone develop an Android app? Only if it fits in with your overall strategy and you get the reach you need. 

My final point is that an increase in the number of some smartphones does not necessarily translate into automatic distribution.

Final Take
Gian Fulgoni of comScore