Android’s share of U.S. smartphone market passes 50%
Data from comScore’s MobiLens service shows that Google’s mobile platform has gained an additional 17% market share in the U.S. in the three months to February, 2012. Android has now crossed the 50% barrier with 50.1% of the market.
The remaining 49.9% is divvied up between Apple (30.2%), RIM (13.4%), Microsoft (3.9%) and Symbian (1.5%).
During the three-month period ending in February, a total of 234 million Americans age 13 and over used mobile devices, 104 million of which owned smartphones, up 14% in the three months to February, 2012.
Recent research from Nielsen found that, as of February this year, just under 50% of Americans own a smartphone. Jonathan Carson, CEO of Digital at Nielsen, says that smartphones are starting to become a “must-have purchase for Americans at all income levels”.
Furthermore, in just the last three months, smartphones have dominated new phone purchases. Two-thirds of people who bought a mobile phone chose a smartphone. Of those that acquired their smartphone within the last three months, 48% said they chose an Android and 43% bought an iPhone.
