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comScore: Android gains U.S. market share again while RIM slips again

Summary: Approximately 234 million Americans used mobile devices, while over 106 million people owned smartphones during the 3-month period ending in March 2012.

Rachel King

By for Between the Lines |

Samsung and Android continued to dominate the mobile market share in the United States through March 2012, according to the latest figures from comScore.

However, without any major smartphone releases lately besides the Nokia Lumia 900 might not make a dent until later reports, most mobile OEMs and smartphone OS providers didn't make any big gains. Instead, there were quite a few more losses in March in comparison to February 2012.

All of the rankings for the top five mobile OEMs and smartphone platforms stayed the same. But out of the top five mobile OEMs, only Samsung and third-place Apple posted gains in market share. LG, Motorola, and HTC slipped, but all by less than 1 percent.

There were bigger showings, positive and negative, on the smartphone side. Google's Android only continues to grow month after month. Now Android accounts for 51 percent of the domestic smartphone spectrum. In second place, Apple's iOS is doing well enough at 30.7 percent with a 1.1 percent gain.

But third-place RIM dropped again, plummeting by as much as Android gained at a 3.7 percent difference. Microsoft's Windows Phone slipped slightly by 0.8 percent, staying in fourth place. Yet the Nokia Lumia brand could do something to mix those figures up as soon as next month.

Once again, Symbian rested in fifth place with a zero percent change.

For reference, comScore researchers surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers for this study. Approximately 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices, while over 106 million people owned smartphones during the 3-month period ending in March -- a 9 percent increase from December.

Related:

Topics: BlackBerry, Hardware, Mobility, Security, Smartphones

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13 comments
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  • This research is about "installed base"

    Hence it reacts slowly to Apple's drastic gain in market share since calendar Q4. In Q1 Apple controlled 59% of all smartphone sales in USA.

    Windows Phone is too young (and sales are too low) to be detected in this statistics, which reflects smartphone sales for recent few years.
    DDERSSS
    Reply Vote

    • +1.

      n/t
      Ram U
      Reply Vote

    • yes also actual sales/activations from carriers more accurate than 'surveys'

      from sales and activation numbers of Q1 from AT&T (78% of their smartphone sales were iPhones. http://techie-buzz.com/apple-2/iphone-accounted-for-78-of-att-activations.html) etc giving a sharp rise in iPhone share is more accurate than the Comscore survey of subscribers.

      I've done phone polls myself before and they are notoriously inaccurate with plenty of mitigating factors. For example do fewer iPhone users respond to polls than Android? (there might be factors that cause this , for example iPhones which are mostly more expensive than androids. If iPhones are owned by higher income people like busy executives they might not spend time on polls as readily. I just pulled that from my hat but it can be easily seen that demographics etc play a big part in poll responses. When I did phone polls I mostly got retired people or housemakers in the day, in the evening working folks didn't want to answer polls but watch TV etc so my polls were skewed to retired folks... ). So actual sales numbers is more accurate.

      and of course you have the point of installed base.
      Davewrite
      Reply Vote

      • Wow

        Triple Blind Studies in a variety of Markets is actually highly accurate and 6 Months worth of sales isn't going to make up for 3 years getting your butt whooped...

        Just because you don't like the numbers does not mean they aren't accurate.

        Remember, there was nothing noting it beat Android on Sprint, T-Mobile does not have the iPhone, Metro PCS, Boost, Cricket, and Many other smaller market companies don't have the iPhone either so those count as well.
        slickjim
        Reply Vote

      • @ peter perry, taking 80% of the worlds cell phone profits is..

        ... "getting your butt whooped"?

        and how does Triple Blind study ( a method used in clinical trials for example drug studies apply to survey of phone subscribers???)

        and surveys and polls ARE notoriously inaccurate.

        Wharton (school of business U of Penn) on numerous problems for polls today including caller ID, " do not call registry '' etc. Wharton: Statistician steele on his own opinion of polls " Steele remains equally skeptical. His bottom line on polls? "I refuse to answer any. I just tell them I'm a statistician" "
        http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1843

        as for market share: samsung etc don't release numbers and it's all guesstimates, actual sales numbers like I say put iPhone currently whacking Android silly in the U.S (78% at&t means android is SHARING the rest with Symbian , winPhone , BBs etc -- MAN THAT'S PITIFUL!!! ) and this will be maginified as Apple gains carriers overseas (as T. Cook said years ago: every time they gain carriers they gain market share.)
        Davewrite
        Reply Vote

      • @ hey Perry I'm still Waiting , how to do you BLIND STUDY a phone poll?

        ???

        "Triple Blind Studies in a variety of Markets is actually highly accurate"

        how do you triple blind study a phone poll ? (definition triple blind study: "Clinical therapeutics A study in which the Pts and researchers are unaware of whether a treatment experimental drug or placebo is being administered ie, 'double-blinded'; ")

        do I use placebo phones ... ?????
        ;)
        Davewrite
        Reply Vote

  • Oops, Windows Phone Slips again

    Got to love loosing marketshare....
    itguy10
    Reply Vote

    • LOL!

      I am way happy not to be you!
      William Farrel
      Reply Vote

    • Oops. itguy10 Slips again

      Got to love loosing him
      John Zern
      Reply Vote

  • Yep

    Soon, Android and iOS will eclipse any other options and it is probably time for MS to scrap their OS and salvage their office space by coming out with mobile versions for the competing platforms.
    slickjim
    Reply Vote

    • I Disagree. Android is not that great a phone OS

      and I would not like to have to be forced to use Apple or nothing, so I welcome Microsoft's continued suppport and efforts with WP7, which many have pointed out is superior to Android.
      John Zern
      Reply Vote

  • Reinforces what I've been saying...

    Android is the market leader by far. That 59% figure that people keep quoting on sales is one apple analyst's estimate from 3 carriers. That is far less scientific than a study like this.

    And you'd be best served to ignore the OEM market share figures, since that includes both the smartphone & feature phone market.

    http://www.tech-thoughts.net/
    sameer_singh17
    Reply Vote

    • 59% iOS share is nothing like "analyst estimate", it is hard data

      All carriers reported their smartphone activations, as well as particularly iPhone activations. 59% is just hard data.
      DDERSSS
      Reply Vote
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