Android Continues Share Grab From Apple, RIM

ComScore’s latest mobile report has confirmed that the Android operating system continues to take share from the smartphone platforms of Research In Motion, Apple and Microsoft.

The research firm said Android grew its US smartphone market share from 12 percent to 17 percent in the three-month period ending in July, vaulting over Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and nibbling at RIM’s and Apple’s pieces of the pie.

RIM is still easily the US smartphone leader, with 39.3 percent of the 53.4 million smartphone users through July. However, the company’s share dipped 1.8 percent from comScore’s last count in April.

Hunting Down Apple

Apple followed with 23.8 percent share, but saw its market share dip 1.3 percent thanks to Android. Microsoft notched 11.8 percent of smartphone subscribers, down 2.2 percent from its 14 percent share in April. Palm held the No. 5 spot with 4.9 percent.

However, losses to Android, while irritating for RIM, Apple and Microsoft, are no causes for alarm yet, if comScore’s rationale is to be believed.

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

Indeed, comScore’s 53.4 million smartphone subscriber tally is an 11 percent increase from April.

In other stats, Samsung remained the top handset manufacturer in the United States with 23.1 percent market share. LG ranked second with 21.2 percent share, followed by Motorola at 19.8 percent, RIM at 9 percent and Nokia at 7.8 percent.

Motorola actually lost 1.8 percent share in the United States, which is interesting given the number of Android-based devices the company has supposedly been selling.

That number should increase for comScore’s October quarterly mobile figures, when the researcher will count the Motorola Droid X, Droid 2 and other devices the phone maker will sell.

Other Android Predictions

comScore is the latest of many researchers to peg Android as an up-and-coming platform in the latter half of 2010, thanks to devices such as the HTC Droid Incredible, HTC Evo 4G, Droid X, Droid 2 and other handsets.

Gartner predicted Android will become the No. 2 mobile operating system in the world behind Symbian, edging past RIM and Apple’s iOS this year.

IDC said Android’s smartphone market share will grow to 24.6 percent between 2010 and 2014.