2010 US mobile subscriber market share shows strong growth

Reston, USA: comScore, Inc, a leader in measuring the digital world, yesterday, 7 June 2010, released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the US mobile phone industry during the three-month period ending April 2010 compared to the preceding three-month period. The report ranked the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and mobile operators in the US according to their share of usage by current mobile subscribers age 13 and older, and reviewed the most popular activities and content accessed via the subscriber's primary mobile phone. The April report found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 22.1% market share, while Verizon led among mobile operators with 31.1% market share.

OEM market share

For the three-month period ending in April, 234 million Americans age 13 and older were mobile subscribers, with device manufacturer Samsung ranking as the top OEM at a 22.1% share of US mobile subscribers, up one point from the prior three month period. LG ranked second with 21.8% share, followed by Motorola (21.6% share, down 1.3 percentage points), RIM (8.4% share) and Nokia (8.1% share).

Mobile operator market share

In a ranking of the top mobile operators in the US during the three-month period ending in April, Verizon led the market with 31.1% of mobile subscribers. AT&T ranked second with 25.2% market share, up 0.2 percentage points from the period ending January 2010. Sprint narrowly grabbed the #3 position with 12.0% market share, closely trailed by T-Mobile (12.0%), while Tracfone gained 0.3 points to capture 5.1% of the market.

Mobile content usage

In an average month during the February through April 2010 time period, 64.6% of US mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 1.1 percentage points versus the prior three month period, while browsers were used by 31.1% of US mobile subscribers (up 2.5 percentage points).
Subscribers who used downloaded applications comprised 29.8% of the mobile audience, representing a substantial increase of 3.1 percentage points over the prior three month period. Accessing of social networking sites and blogs also continued to grow, increasing 2.8 percentage points to 19.9% of mobile subscribers.

comScore will be hosting a complimentary webinar, The State of the Mobile: A Fragmented Reality? on Wednesday, June 9 at 2:00 p.m. EDT. For more information and to register for this webinar, go to www1.gotomeeting.com/register/665260201.