ComScore (http://www.comscore.com), which “measures the digital world,” has released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending in August. Among the findings: the iOS now has 9.8% of total US mobile subscribers compared to 8.7% in May.
The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.3% market share. Google Android continued to gain ground in the smartphone market reaching 43.7% market share.
For the three-month average period ending in August, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top original equipment manufacturer with 25.3% of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 0.5 percentage points from the prior three-month period), followed by LG with 21% share and Motorola with 14% share. Apple strengthened its position at number four with 9.8% share of mobile subscribers (up 1.1 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 7.1% share.
Approximately 84.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in August, up 10% from the preceding three month period. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 43.7% market share, up 5.6 percentage points from the prior three-month period. Apple strengthened its number two position, growing 0.7 percentage points to 27.3% of the smartphone market. RIM ranked third with 19.7% share, followed by Microsoft (5.7%) and Symbian (1.8%).
In August, 70% of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up one percentage point. Browsers were used by 42.1% of subscribers (up 2.3 percentage points), while downloaded applications were used by 41.6% (up three percentage points). Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 2.3 percentage points to 30.9% of mobile subscribers. Game-playing was done by 28.5% of the mobile audience (up 1.6 percentage points), while 20.7% listened to music on their phones (up 2.1 percentage points).