New statistics from digital marketing intelligence agency comScore show Google's Android continues to dominate the smartphone market in the US.
In the three-month period covered by the survey (May to July), 234 million Americans (aged 13 and older) used mobile devices, and 82.2 million of those were smartphones. ComScore says this is a 10% increase from the preceding three-month period.
The comScore study surveyed over 30 000 US mobile subscribers and ranked Samsung as the top handset manufacturer overall, with a 25.5% market share. LG ranked second with 20.9% and Motorola third at 14%. According to comScore, Apple has improved its position by 1.2%, to reach 9.5%. Research In Motion (RIM) sits at the bottom of the top five, with 7.6%.
Android continues to hold on to its position as the top smartphone platform, with a 5.4% increase to 41.8% market share. Apple is also on the rise, with a 27% market share (up by 1% from the previous period).
RIM is still in third position with 21.7% ‑ showing a 4% drop in market share over the three-month period. Microsoft and Symbian both languished, with 5.7% and 1.9%, respectively.
Mobile content usage stats show 70% of US mobile subscribers are still using text messaging, while browsers are used by 41%. The downloading of applications is also slowly increasing and is up 2.8 percentage points to 40.6%. Social networking has also increased by two percentage points, to 30.1%.
Android in SA?
In SA, local analysts predict we may soon see the same trends, as Android is expected to gain significant ground. According World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck, BlackBerry will remain the dominant smartphone brand, but Android could overtake it in the next two years.
Goldstuck also says Samsung could become a true Apple competitor in the near future.
Speaking of local trends at a recent event, Eleanor Mitrovich, GM of the branded channel for MTN, said the Android brand was growing rapidly in the market. Mitrovich estimated that MTN sees at least 30 000 Android devices being activated per month.
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