In early November, 2012, comScore released data showing that smartphone penetration has topped 50 percent for the first time in history. comScore’s MobiLens study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers.
Smartphones in the US
According to the study, 119.3 million people in the US own smartphones – that’s a mobile market penetration of 51.0%. Despite the overwhelming demand for iPhone 5s, Google Android remains the smartphone platform leader, with 52.5% marketshare. While Android and Apple’s market shares both increased in the past three months, RIM and Microsoft’s dropped slightly.
Use of Smartphones & Non-Smartphone
comScore notes that text messaging is the most popular mobile activity by far. Downloading apps, using the browser and accessing social networks or blogs were also popular, and gained some momentum in the last three months.