*Smartphone Penetration Climbs Over 40 Percent during December Holiday Shopping Season*
RESTON, VA, February 2, 2012 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore 
MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending December 2011. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.3 percent market share. Google Android strengthened its lead in the smartphone market to reach 47.3 percent market share.
OEM 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 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 20 percent share and Motorola with 13.3 percent share. Apple continued to gain ground in the OEM market with 12.4 percent share of total mobile subscribers (up 2.2 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 6.7 percent share.
| Top Mobile OEMs
3 Month Avg. Ending Dec. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Sep. 2011 Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens |
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| 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 |
Smartphone Platform Market Share
97.9 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in December, representing 40 percent of all mobile subscribers. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 47.3 percent market share, up 2.5 percentage points from September. Apple maintained its #2 position, growing 2.2 percentage points to 29.6 percent of the smartphone market. RIM ranked third with 16 percent share, followed by Microsoft (4.7 percent) and Symbian (1.4 percent).
| Top Smartphone Platforms
3 Month Avg. Ending Dec. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Sep. 2011 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens |
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| 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 |
Mobile Content Usage
In December, 74.3 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 3.2 percentage points. Downloaded applications were used by 47.6 percent of subscribers (up 5.1 percentage points), while browsers were used by 47.5 percent (up 4.6 percentage points). Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 3.8 percentage points to 35.3 percent of mobile subscribers. Game-playing was done by 31.4 percent of the mobile audience (up 2.6 percentage points), while 23.8 percent 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 U.S. Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens |
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| 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 |
About MobiLens
MobiLens data is derived from an intelligent online survey of a nationally representative sample of mobile subscribers age 13 and above. Data on mobile phone usage refers to a respondent’s primary mobile phone and does not include data related to a respondent’s secondary device.
*Source: comScore