Google's Android mobile operating system has now taken a commanding lead of the American smartphone market, with the platform growing 6 percent over the course of 2011's first quarter, a recent comScore report indicates.
The Android OS now accounts for 34.7 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers, overtaking the declining BlackBerry OS, which stands at 27.1 percent. Meanwhile, Apple continues to gain ground as well, though the company's one-platform stance is hindering its growth - the operating system, which is only available on iPhones, now makes up 25.5 percent of the market.
Overall, the number of mobile subscribers grew by 3 million since comScore's last mobile update, with 72.5 million Americans now owning the devices. Moreover, smartphones are quickly growing to account for a larger share of mobile subscribers - the devices now make up approximately one-third of American cellphone owners.
This bodes well for advertisers that run digital marketing initiatives on smartphones, as a separate Nielsen report suggests that Android users are more likely to click on ads than their iOS or RIM counterparts.
Source: RICG
Date: 11/05/2011