comScore Reports October 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

*Smartphones Now Used by 1 in 4 U.S. Mobile Subscribers*

RESTON, VA, December 3, 2010 – 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 October 2010. The report ranked the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone operating system (OS) platforms in the U.S. according to their share of current mobile subscribers ages 13 and older, and reviewed the most popular activities and content accessed via the subscriber’s primary mobile phone. The October report found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 24.2 percent market share, while RIM led among smartphone platforms with 35.8 percent market share.

OEM Market Share

For the three month average period ending in October, 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 24.2 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, up 1.1 percentage points from the three month period ending in July. LG ranked second with 21.0 percent share, followed by Motorola (17.7 percent share), RIM (9.3 percent share, up 0.3 percentage points) and Nokia (7.1 percent share).

Top Mobile OEMs
3 Month Avg. Ending Oct. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Jul. 2010
Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers Ages 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens
  Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers
Jul-10 Oct-10 Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Samsung 23.1% 24.2% 1.1
LG 21.2% 21.0% -0.2
Motorola 19.8% 17.7% -2.1
RIM 9.0% 9.3% 0.3
Nokia 7.8% 7.1% -0.7

Smartphone Platform Market Share

60.7 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in October, up 14 percent from the preceding three month period, representing 1 out of every 4 mobile subscribers. RIM was the leading mobile smartphone platform in the U.S. with 35.8 percent share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, followed by Apple with 24.6 percent share (up 0.8 percentage points). Google Android saw another month of strong growth, rising 6.5 percentage points to capture 23.5 percent of smartphone subscribers. Microsoft accounted for 9.7 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Palm rounded out the top five with 3.9 percent. Despite losing share to Android, most smartphone platforms continue to gain subscribers as the smartphone market overall continues to grow.

Top Smartphone Platforms
3 Month Avg. Ending Oct. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Jul. 2010
Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens
  Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
Jul-10 Oct-10 Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
RIM 39.3% 35.8% -3.5
Apple 23.8% 24.6% 0.8
Google 17.0% 23.5% 6.5
Microsoft 11.8% 9.7% -2.1
Palm 4.9% 3.9% -1.0

Mobile Content Usage

In October, 68.1 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 2.1 percentage points versus the prior three month period, while browsers were used by 36.2 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 2.6 percentage points). Subscribers who used downloaded applications comprised 33.7 percent of the mobile audience, representing an increase of 2.3 percentage points. Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 2.4 percentage points, representing 24.2 percent of mobile subscribers. Playing games represented 23.7 percent of the mobile audience (up 1.4 percentage points), while listening to music increased 0.9 percentage points, representing 15.4 percent of subscribers.

Mobile Content Usage
3 Month Avg. Ending Oct. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Jul. 2010
Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers Ages 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens
  Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers
Jul-10 Oct-10 Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Sent text message to another phone 66.0% 68.1% 2.1
Used browser 33.6% 36.2% 2.6
Used downloaded apps 31.4% 33.7% 2.3
Accessed social networking site or blog 21.8% 24.2% 2.4
Played Games 22.3% 23.7% 1.4
Listened to music on mobile phone 14.5% 15.4% 0.9

*Source: comScore

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