Apple, RIM lose mkt share to Android

RESTON, VA:  Once strong contenders, Apple, RIM, and Microsoft are losing their ground to Google in the ever growing smartphone battle.

According to a recent comScore report, Google has seen significant growth in the period of Februray to May 2010.

Android platform scored up to 4.0 percentage points to capture 13.0 per cent of smartphone subscribers.

Despite losing share to Google Android, most smartphone platforms continue to gain subscribers as the smartphone market overall continues to grow, said the report.

RIM was the leading mobile smartphone platform in the U.S. with 41.7 per cent share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, followed by Apple with 24.4 per cent share and Microsoft with 13.2 per cent.

65.2 per cent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device in May, up 1.4 percentage points versus the prior three month period, while browsers were used by 31.9 per cent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 2.3 percentage points).

Subscribers who used downloaded applications comprised 30.0 per cent of the mobile audience, representing an increase of 2.1 percentage points from the previous period. Accessing of social networking sites or blogs also saw significant growth, increasing 2.6 percentage points to 20.8 percent of mobile subscribers.

The data was released in comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending May 2010 compared to the preceding three-month average.  It does not include the impact of Apple’s launch of iPhone 4, which became available in June.