Android, Apple Gain Mobile Market Share

On a three-month average basis, Samsung grabs 26.9% of the handset market, up 1.2% from August, while Apple gets 18.5% (up 1.4%) and LG gets 17.5% (down 0.7%) . HTC lost 0.4% and Motorola lost 0.8%. In August, Apple trailed Samsung by 8.6 points but has closed the gap to 8.4 points in November.

In the software operating system (platform) market, Google’s Android gets 53.7% share, followed by Apple with 35%, Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) with 7.3%, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) with 3%, and Symbian (formerly owned by Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) with 0.5%. Only Google and Apple added share in the three-month period. RIM was the big loser, down 1%. In August Apple trailed Google by 18.3 points, but Google widened the gap to 18.7 points in November.

comScore claims there are 123.3 million smartphones in the U.S. in the hands of users 13 years of age and older. The most used application on mobile devices is text messaging, which more than 75.9% of mobile device owners say they use. Downloaded apps are used by 54.2% of subscribers and 52.1% use a web browser. Social networking or blog access attracts 39.2% of users and 33.7% played games on their mobile devices. Finally, 28.7% of mobile subscribers listen to music on their mobile devices. Except for game playing, all these numbers are higher than in the August 2012 survey.

Paul Ausick