The study surveyed more than 30 000 US mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.3% market share. Google Android strengthened its lead in the smartphone market to reach 47.3% market share.
For the three-month average period ending in December, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.3% of US mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 20% share and Motorola with 13.3% share. Apple continued to gain ground in the OEM market with 12.4% share of total mobile subscribers (up 2.2 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 6.7% share.
| Top Mobile OEMs 3 Month Avg. Ending Dec. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Sep. 2011 Total US Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non Smartphone) Ages 13+ (Source: comScore MobiLens) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers | |||
| Sep-11 | Dec-11 | Point Change | |
| Total Mobile Subscribers | 100.0% | 100.0% | N/A |
| Samsung | 25.3% | 25.3% | 0.0 |
| LG | 20.6% | 20.0% | -0.6 |
| Motorola | 13.8% | 13.3% | -0.5 |
| Apple | 10.2% | 12.4% | 2.2 |
| RIM | 7.1% | 6.7% | -0.4 |
97.9 million people in the US owned smartphones during the three months ending in December, representing 40% of all mobile subscribers. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 47.3% market share, up 2.5 percentage points from September. Apple maintained its #2 position, growing 2.2 percentage points to 29.6% of the smartphone market. RIM ranked third with 16% share, followed by Microsoft (4.7%) and Symbian (1.4%).
| Top Smartphone Platforms 3 Month Avg. Ending Dec. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Sep. 2011 Total US Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+ (Source: comScore MobiLens) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers | |||
| Sep-11 | Dec-11 | Point Change | |
| Total Smartphone Subscribers | 100.0% | 100.0% | N/A |
| 44.8% | 47.3% | 2.5 | |
| Apple | 27.4% | 29.6% | 2.2 |
| RIM | 18.9% | 16.0% | -2.9 |
| Microsoft | 5.6% | 4.7% | -0.9 |
| Symbian | 1.8% | 1.4% | -0.4 |
In December, 74.3% of US mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 3.2 percentage points. Downloaded applications were used by 47.6% of subscribers (up 5.1 percentage points), while browsers were used by 47.5% (up 4.6 percentage points). Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 3.8 percentage points to 35.3% of mobile subscribers. Game-playing was done by 31.4% of the mobile audience (up 2.6 percentage points), while 23.8% listened to music on their phones (up 2.9 percentage points).
| Mobile Content Usage 3 Month Avg. Ending Dec. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Sep. 2011 Total US Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+ (Source: comScore MobiLens) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers | |||
| Sep-11 | Dec-11 | Point Change | |
| Total Mobile Subscribers | 100.0% | 100.0% | N/A |
| Sent text message to another phone | 71.1% | 74.3% | 3.2 |
| Used downloaded apps | 42.5% | 47.6% | 5.1 |
| Used browser | 42.9% | 47.5% | 4.6 |
| Accessed social networking site or blog | 31.5% | 35.3% | 3.8 |
| Played Games | 28.8% | 31.4% | 2.6 |
| Listened to music on mobile phone | 20.9% | 23.8% | 2.9 |
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