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

*Android Platform Now Reaches More than 1 in 5 U.S. Smartphone Subscribers*

RESTON, VA, November 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 September 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 September report found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 23.5 percent market share, while RIM led among smartphone platforms with 37.3 percent market share.

OEM Market Share

For the three month average period ending in September, 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 23.5 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, up 0.7 percentage points from the three month period ending in June. LG ranked second with 21.1 percent share, followed by Motorola (18.4 percent share), RIM (9.3 percent share, up 0.5 percentage points) and Nokia (7.4 percent share). 

Smartphone Platform Market Share

58.7 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in September, up 15 percent from the preceding three month period. RIM was the leading mobile smartphone platform in the U.S. with 37.3 percent share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, followed by Apple with 24.3 percent share. Google continues to gain ground in the market, rising 6.5 percentage points to capture 21.4 percent of smartphone subscribers. Microsoft accounted for 10.0 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Palm rounded out the top five with 4.2 percent. Despite losing share to Google Android, most smartphone platforms continue to gain subscribers as the smartphone market overall continues to grow. 

Mobile Content Usage 

In September, 67.0 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 1.4 percentage points versus the prior three month period, while browsers were used by 35.1 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 2.2 percentage points). Subscribers who used downloaded applications comprised 33.1 percent of the mobile audience, representing an increase of 2.5 percentage points. Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 1.8 percentage points, representing 23.2 percent of mobile subscribers. Playing games represented 23.1 percent of the mobile audience (up 0.5 percentage points), while listening to music increased 0.8 percentage points, representing 15.2 percent of subscribers. 

*Source: comScore