Devices running Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android mobile operating system accounted for more than two fifths of all smartphones sold in the U.S. between June 2010 and November 2010, according to new Nielsen Company data. Android sales accounted for 40.8 percent of U.S. smartphone purchases at the end of November, up from 27.5 percent at midyear--Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS increased from 20.9 percent in June to 26.9 percent in November, while Research In Motion's (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry plummeted from 35.0 percent to 19.2 percent during the same timeframe.
Apple's iOS leads in terms of overall U.S. smartphone consumer market share, edging up from 27.9 percent in June to 28.6 percent in November--Android jumped from 15.0 percent market share to 25.8 percent. "Blackberry's position is less clear: Its share (26.1 percent) puts it within the margin of error of both Apple iOS and Android," Nielsen notes. "In other words, RIM remains statistically tied with both Apple for first and Android for third. Apple's clear lead over Android notwithstanding, this race might still be too close to call."
Nielsen adds that smartphones represented 45 percent of all new U.S. mobile device purchases in November. Smartphone users now make up 31 percent of the total U.S. mobile subscriber segment.
For more:
- read this NielsenWire blog entry
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