Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android mobile operating system now maintains a slight edge over Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS in the race to dominate the U.S. smartphone market, digital research firm comScore reports. As of November 2010, Android represents 26 percent of nationwide smartphone market share (a 6.4 percentage points leap over the previous three-month period), ahead of iOS at 25 (up 0.8 points). Research In Motion's (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry operating system continues to lead the U.S. market at 33.5 percent of subscribers, but its dominance is shrinking rapidly, decreasing 4.1 points over the previous three months; Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone fell further off the pace in November, sliding 1.8 points to capture 9 percent of the market.
According to comScore, about 61.5 million U.S. subscribers own smartphones as of November, up 10 percent over the preceding three-month period and a figure certain to increase even more significantly following the recent holiday season. Slightly more than a third of all U.S. subscribers used a downloaded mobile application in November 2010, up 1.1 percentage points over the previous three-month period; 67.1 percent of subscribers used text messaging services in November, up 0.5 points, and 23.5 percent accessed social networks or blogs, a 1 percent increase. comScore adds that mobile gaming attracted 22.6 percent of the U.S. wireless audience, and 15 percent tuned in to mobile music services.
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