Smartphone penetration reached 62% of the US mobile subscriber market during the 3-month average ending in September (Q3), according to new figures from comScore, up 3% points from 59% on average during Q2. Nielsen also puts smartphone’s penetration growth at about 3% points, although it estimates that penetration stood at 64.7% in Q3, up from 62% in Q2. Both researchers concur when it comes to the top platforms, with Android at 52% share of the smartphone market and Apple at 41%.
For comScore, Android’s 51.8% share represented a slight dip from 52% in Q2, with Apple’s 40.6% share a 0.7% point increase from 39.9% the previous quarter. When compared to the 3-month average ending in August, though, the trends are different. Those figures – released last month – put Android at 51.6% share and Apple at 40.7%, such that the platforms moved in opposite directions (albeit very slightly) in this month’s findings.
When it comes to the top OEM rankings, Apple’s 41% market share remains a significant distance ahead of Samsung’s share, at 24.9% according to comScore and at 26.3% per Nielsen.
Google Still Top Smartphone Property
Yahoo might be the top desktop property, but Google remains well ahead among smartphone users, per the latest comScore data. Google Sites enjoyed 90% reach among US smartphone mobile media users aged 18 and up who used iOS and Android platforms during Q3. Facebook (84%) was next, followed by Yahoo! Sites (82.2%), with Amazon Sites (65.5%) and AOL (50.1%) rounding out the top 5.
Looking specifically at application audiences, Facebook came out on top with 74.3% reach, followed by a few Google applications: Google Play (53.9%); Google Search (53.2%); and YouTube (49.6%). Pandora moved into the #5 spot by virtue of its 49.3% reach.
