Americans use Samsung handsets more than any others, though when it comes to smartphone operating systems, BlackBerry is the top pick, followed by the iPhone and Android devices.
Samsung has only
just begun introducing
its line of Galaxy S smartphones, but already its devices are being
used by more Americans than any other manufacturers,' comScore reported
Nov. 3.
Over a three-month period ending in September, comScore found, a
total of 234 million Americans, ages 13 years and older, were using
mobile devices. Samsung devices accounted for 23.5 percent of that
total-up from 22.8 percent over a three-month period ending in
June-followed by devices from LG Electronics, with a 21.1 percent
share, and Motorola, with 18.4 percent.
Fourth place went to Research In Motion, which showed the
second-largest increase between the periods, rising from 8.8 percent to
9.3 percent, and was followed by Nokia, which claimed fifth place with
a 7.4 percent share.
When narrowed down to smartphone platforms, however, BlackBerry
maker RIM took the lead. Down a bit from its 40.1 percent share during
the June quarter, BlackBerry handsets accounted for 37.3 percent of the
total 58.7 million smartphones in use during the period. Apple,
remaining steady at 24.3 percent, came in second, followed by Google,
which claimed 21.4 percent of the market and increased by 6.5
percent-showing the fastest increase in any category.
Microsoft, in fourth place, lost a bit of market share, dropping
from 12.8 percent to 10 percent-a stat likely to change in the current
quarter, as on Oct. 11 it introduced a long-awaited line of
Windows Phone 7 handsets, nine of which will begin shipping in November.
Also losing share was Palm's WebOS, which dropped from 4.7 to 4.2
percent, though this, too, is likely to change in coming quarters, as
Hewlett-Packard, which purchased Palm earlier this year, prepares to
release new devices on an updated version of WebOS. The first of these
is the Palm Pre 2, with WebOS 2.0, which made its debut on SFR,
France's largest telecom, though is slated for the United States and
Canada in "the coming months,"
Verizon confirmed.
As for what those 234 million Americans are doing with their
devices, the number-one answer-chatting aside-is sending text messages.
Texting accounted for 67 percent of mobile usage, up from 65.6 percent
the quarter before.
Second up was Web browsing, which, like all other mobile usage
categories, increased during the quarter, in this instance to 35.1
percent up from 32.9 percent. Third place went to by downloading apps,
which increased from 30.6 percent to 33.1 percent, followed by visits
to social networking networking sites and blogs, which rose from 21.4
percent to 23.2 percent.
Gaming accounted for 23.1 percent of usage, up from 22.6 percent,
followed by listening to music, which hopped from 14.4 percent to 15.2
percent.
Rising smartphone sales-driven in part by hearty carrier
subsidies-are driving the overall handset market, analysts suggest.
During the third quarter of 2010, research firm Strategy Analytics
announced in an Oct. 30 report, Samsung shipped a
company high of 71.4 million units.
Strategy Analytics estimated that 327 million handsets shipped globally
during the quarter, while another market research firm, IDC, put the
figure at 340.5 million units.
Email
Print
