Portable Electronics Ltd // Technology you can carry.

Smartphones and the consumption of mobile data continue to grow in popularity in the U.S. – 37 percent of mobile consumers now have one  – and Google’s Android operating system (OS) is proving to be the most popular.  According to Nielsen’s April survey of mobile consumers, 36 percent of smartphone consumers now have an Android device, compared to 26 percent for Apple iOS smartphones (iPhones) and 23 percent for RIM Blackberry.

Hungry for Data
Consumers with Android and Apple iOS smartphones exhibit data-intensive usage:

Smartphone Platform Market Share

72.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in March 2011, up 15 percent from the preceding three-month period. Google Android grew 6.0 percentage points to 34.7 percent market share, while RIM ranked second with 27.1 percent. Apple grew 0.5 points to 25.5 percent share, followed by Microsoft (7.5 percent) and Palm (2.8 percent).

According to The Nielsen Company’s monthly surveys of U.S. mobile consumers from July-September 2010, consumers planning on getting a new smartphone had a very clear preference: A third (33%) wanted an Apple iPhone. Slightly more than a quarter (26%) said they desired a device with the Google Android operating system (OS). And 13 percent said they wanted a RIM Blackberry.

comScore’s analysis of the unduplicated audience reach of the Apple iOS platform across iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches revealed a combined iOS installed base of 37.9 million users. The installed base of iPhones slightly exceeded that of iPod Touches, both of which were approximately twice as high as the number of iPads. Interestingly, among the 37.9 million consumers with access to the Apple iOS, only 4 million (10.5 percent) accessed the platform via more than one device.

Smartphone Platform Market Share

69.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in February 2011, up 13 percent from the preceding three-month period. Google Android grew 7.0 percentage points since November, strengthening its #1 position with 33.0 percent market share. RIM ranked second with 28.9 percent market share, followed by Apple with 25.2 percent. Microsoft (7.7 percent) and Palm (2.8 percent) rounded out the top five.

65.8 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in January 2011, up 8 percent from the preceding three-month period. Google Android captured the #1 ranking among smartphone platforms for the first time in January with 31.2 percent market share. RIM ranked second with 30.4 percent market share, followed by Apple with 24.7 percent. Microsoft (8.0 percent) and Palm (3.2 percent) rounded out the top five.

Marketshare by operating system, Android (29%) appears to be pulling ahead of RIM Blackberry (27%) and Apple iOS (27%).

HTC follows with 12 percent of consumer smartphone owners having an HTC Android device and 7 percent owning an HTC device running a Microsoft OS. Ten percent of consumer smartphone owners had a Motorola Android device and one percent owned a Motorola device running a Microsoft OS.

Of the three most popular smartphone operating systems, Android seems to attract more young consumers.

63.2 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in December 2010, up 60 percent versus year ago. RIM led the ranking with 31.6 percent market share of smartphones, while Google Android maintained the #2 position with 28.7 percent, up 7.3 percentage points versus September. Apple accounted for 25.0 percent of smartphone subscribers (up 0.7 percentage points), followed by Microsoft with 8.4 percent and Palm with 3.7 percent.