82.2m people in the US own a smartphone: comScore

2 Sep 2011

New data out by digital research group comScore, revealed that 82.2 million people in the US owned smartphones during the three months ending in July, up 10% from the preceding three month period.

The data found that Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 41.8% market share, up 5.4%.

Apple meanwhile, strengthened its position at number two with 27% of the smartphone market, up 1% from the prior reporting period. Blackberry maker RIM ranked third with a 21.7% share.

South African mobile operator MTN Group said that at the end June it had 4.6 million 3G devices on its network, of which 2.6 million were smartphones.

MTN SA recently noted an increase in its subscriber base by 5.1% to 19.8 million for the six months to end June.

According to rival operator Vodacom, active smartphones on its network increased during its most recent quarter by more than 406,000 to 3.7 million.

It said that BlackBerry handsets accounted for 70% of its smartphone sales in the June quarter.

Addressing questions in the company's results presentation on Thursday, Vodacom chief financial officer Rob Shuter said of the BlackBerry sales: "They really are a big factor in our lives. He added that of the top 10 selling smartphones, the 8520 model was number one. They really are selling very well for us."

Overall, smartphone penetration in SA was at about 16%, and growing at an alarming rate. Research group World Wide Worx predicted that, by 2015, half the phones shipped in SA would be smartphones.

According to comScore, in July, 70% of US mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 1.2%. Browsers were used by 41.1% of subscribers, while downloaded applications were used by 40.6%. Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 2.1% to 30.1% of mobile subscribers.

Game-playing was done by 27.8% of the mobile audience, while 20.3% listened to music on their phones.

The study surveyed more than 30,000 US mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.5% market share. Google Android continued to gain ground in the smartphone market reaching 41.8% market share.

For the three month average period ending in July, 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM (original equipment manufacturer) with 25.5% of US mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 20.9% share and Motorola with 14.1% share.

Apple strengthened its position at number four with 9.5% share of mobile subscribers, while RIM rounded out the top five with 7.6% share.

Source: I-Net Bridge

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