comScore: 234M Americans Now Own Mobile Devices, 90M of Which Being Smartphones

According to new data out from comScore, the total number of Americans who own mobile devices now tops 234M, with 90M of which being smartphones.  The study covers the three-month average period ending October 2011, and includes a survey of more than 30,000 US mobile subscribers.

In terms of mobile OEM data, Samsung remains the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.5% total market share, followed by LG with 20.6% marketshare and Motorola with 13.6%.  In terms of mobile operating systems, Android holds on to the number one spot — now sitting at 46.3% total market share.  Apple comes in at second place with 28.1% of the market — up only one percentage point over the proceeding three-month period.  RIM rounded out the top three with 17.2% share, followed by Microsoft in fourth place with 5.4% and Symbian in fifth place with just 1.6%.

Looking at mobile content, 71.8% of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device in October — up 1.8 percentage points over the last reporting period.  Mobile Web browsers were used by 44% of subscribers — up 2.9%  — while downloaded applications were used by 43.8% — up 3.2%.  Use of social networking sites and blogs increased 2.2% to 32.3% total, while mobile gaming came in at 29.2% — up 1.4% from the previous period.