Published: February 07, 2011

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

Share This Story

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.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080115/COMSCORELOGO)

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
                                     -------------------
                                                    Point
                             Sep-10     Dec-10     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
                                   -----------------------
                                                      Point
                               Sep-10     Dec-10     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
                                --------------------
                                                    Point
                             Sep-10     Dec-10     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
    --------------------        ----       ----        ---

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

Follow Us on Twitter

twitter.com/comScore

twitter.com/m_abraham

twitter.com/gfulgoni

SOURCE comScore, Inc.