comScore Reports December 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

Number of Smartphone Users Up 60 Percent Versus Year Ago

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Feb 07, 2011, 04:15 ET

RESTON, Va., Feb. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending December 2010. The report ranked the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone operating system (OS) platforms in the U.S. according to their share of current mobile subscribers ages 13 and older, and reviewed the most popular activities and content accessed via the subscriber's primary mobile phone. The December report found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 24.8 percent market share, while RIM led among smartphone platforms with 31.6 percent market share.

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OEM Market Share

For the three month average period ending in December, 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 24.8 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, up 1.3 percentage points from the three month period ending in September. LG ranked second with 20.9 percent share, followed by Motorola (16.7 percent), RIM (8.5 percent) and Nokia (7.0 percent).

Top Mobile OEMs 3 Month Avg. Ending Dec. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Sep. 2010 Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
	Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers
	Sep-10	Dec-10	Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers	100.0%	100.0%	N/A
Samsung	23.5%	24.8%	1.3
LG	21.1%	20.9%	-0.2
Motorola	18.4%	16.7%	-1.7
RIM	9.3%	8.5%	-0.8
Nokia	7.4%	7.0%	-0.4

Smartphone Platform Market Share

63.2 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in December 2010, up 60 percent versus year ago. RIM led the ranking with 31.6 percent market share of smartphones, while Google Android maintained the #2 position with 28.7 percent, up 7.3 percentage points versus September. Apple accounted for 25.0 percent of smartphone subscribers (up 0.7 percentage points), followed by Microsoft with 8.4 percent and Palm with 3.7 percent.

Top Smartphone Platforms 3 Month Avg. Ending Dec. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Sep. 2010 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
	Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
	Sep-10	Dec-10	Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers	100.0%	100.0%	N/A
RIM	37.3%	31.6%	-5.7
Google	21.4%	28.7%	7.3
Apple	24.3%	25.0%	0.7
Microsoft	9.9%	8.4%	-1.5
Palm	4.2%	3.7%	-0.5

Mobile Content Usage

In December, 68.0 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 1.0 percentage points versus the prior three month period, while browsers were used by 36.4 percent of subscribers (up 1.3 percentage points). Subscribers who used downloaded applications comprised 34.4 percent of the mobile audience, representing an increase of 1.3 percentage points. Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 1.5 percentage points, representing 24.7 percent of mobile subscribers. Playing games attracted 23.2 percent of the mobile audience, while listening to music attracted 15.7 percent.

Mobile Content Usage 3 Month Avg. Ending Dec. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Sep. 2010 Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
	Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers
	Sep-10	Dec-10	Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers	100.0%	100.0%	N/A
Sent text message to another phone	67.0%	68.0%	1.0
Used browser	35.1%	36.4%	1.3
Used downloaded apps	33.1%	34.4%	1.3
Accessed social networking site or blog	23.2%	24.7%	1.5
Played Games	23.1%	23.2%	0.1
Listened to music on mobile phone	15.2%	15.7%	0.5

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