New data out from comScore suggests Google’s Android OS has overtaken Apple’s iOS for the first time in terms of U.S. smartphone subscriber share.
ComScore estimates there’s now roughly 63M smartphone subscribers in the U.S., up 7.3 percent from the preceding three month period. Of which, RIM still leads the pack with 31.6 percent of total subscribers, with Android in the number two spot at 28.7 percent and Apple at number 3 with an even 25 percent. Microsoft and Palm round out the top five at 8.4 percent and 3.7 percent respectively.
The data shows 234M Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices in December, with Samsung ranking as the top device manufactuerer with 24.8 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers. LG ranked second with 20.9 percent share, followed by Motorola (16.7 percent), RIM (8.5 percent) and Nokia (7.0 percent). More interesting, however, is mobile content usage for December.
ComScore estimates 68 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 1.0 percentage points versus the prior three month period, while browsers were used by 36.4 percent of subscribers (up 1.3 percentage points). Mobile browser usage came in second, with 36.4 percent of the mobile audience, followed by mobile app usage at a close 34.4 percent.
