Google Android is the world’s most popular smartphone platform with 47.3 percent of the market, up 2.5 percentage points since September, according to recently released figures from comScore. The research company studied sales for the three month period ending in December 2011.
Android has been activated on over 250 million devices, up 50 million since last November.
During the period, 234 million people ages 13 and older used mobile devices. About 97.9 million (up from 91.4 million in the previous three month period) used smartphones, representing 40 percent of all mobile subscribers.
Following Google Android’s top ranking, Apple took second place at 29.6 percent after growing 2.2 percent over the previous period. RIM ranked third with 16 percent share, followed by Microsoft’s share of 4.7 percent and Symbian’s 1.4 percent.
Samsung ranked number one as an OEM with 25.3 percent of US mobile subscribers, while LG took second place at 20 percent and Motorola came in at 13.3 percent. Apple was used by 12.4 percent of mobile subscribers, a 2.2 percentage point improvement over the previous period, while RIM had a 6.7 percent share.
Users are also using their phones for more than just phone calls. About 74.3 percent of US subscribers used their phones for texting. About 47.6 percent downloaded applications (up 5.1 percentage points), while 47.5 percent used browsers. About 35.3 percent used social networking sites, a 2.6 percentage point improvement, while 23.8 percent used their phones to listen to music.