Comscore: Samsung is top mobile handset maker

Samsung Galaxy S II

comScore Inc.,Reston, Va., reported Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.3 percent market share, according to a study of 30,000 U.S. mobilr subscribers.Google Android strengthened its lead in the smartphone market to reach 47.3 percent market share.

For the three-month average period ending in December, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.3 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 20 percent share and Motorola with 13.3 percent share. Apple continued to gain ground in the OEM market with 12.4 percent share of total mobile subscribers (up 2.2 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 6.7 percent share.

Almost 98 million U.S. people owned smartphones during the three months ending in December, representing 40 percent of all mobile subscribers. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 47.3 percent market share, up 2.5 percentage points from September. Apple maintained its number 2 position, growing 2.2 percentage points to 29.6 percent of the smartphone market. RIM ranked third with 16 percent share, followed by Microsoft (4.7 percent) and Symbian (1.4 percent).

In December, 74.3 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 3.2 percentage points. Downloaded applications were used by 47.6 percent of subscribers (up 5.1 percentage points), while browsers were used by 47.5 percent (up 4.6 percentage points).