Smartphone Penetration Surges Past 50% Threshold for the First Time
RESTON, VA, – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending September 2012. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 26 percent market share. Smartphone penetration surged past the 50 percent threshold for the first time. Google Android led that segment of the market with 52.5 percent of smartphone subscribers, while Apple accounted for 34.3 percent.
OEM Market Share
For the three-month average period ending in September, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 26 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 0.4 percentage points), followed by LG with 17.7 percent share. Apple continued to close in on the #2 OEM ranking with 17.5 percent of mobile subscribers (up 2.1 percentage points), followed by Motorola with 10.9 percent and HTC with 6.2 percent.
| Top Mobile OEMs 3 Month Avg. Ending Sep. 2012 vs. 3 Month Ending Jun. 2012 Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens |
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| Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers | |||
| Jun-12 | Sep-12 | Point Change | |
| Total Mobile Subscribers | 100.0% | 100.0% | N/A |
| Samsung | 25.6% | 26.0% | 0.4 |
| LG | 18.8% | 17.7% | -1.1 |
| Apple | 15.4% | 17.5% | 2.1 |
| Motorola | 11.7% | 10.9% | -0.8 |
| HTC | 6.4% | 6.2% | -0.2 |
Smartphone Platform Market Share
119.3 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (51.0 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in September, up 8 percent since June. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 52.5 percent market share (up 0.9 percentage points), while Apple’s share increased 1.9 percentage points to 34.3 percent. RIM ranked third with 8.4 percent share, followed by Microsoft (3.6 percent) and Symbian (0.6 percent).
| Top Smartphone Platforms 3 Month Avg. Ending Sep. 2012 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Jun. 2012 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens |
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| Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers | |||
| Jun-12 | Sep-12 | Point Change | |
| Total Smartphone Subscribers | 100.0% | 100.0% | N/A |
| 51.6% | 52.5% | 0.9 | |
| Apple | 32.4% | 34.3% | 1.9 |
| RIM | 10.7% | 8.4% | -2.3 |
| Microsoft | 3.8% | 3.6% | -0.2 |
| Symbian | 0.9% | 0.6% | -0.3 |
Mobile Content Usage
In September, 75.5 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device (up 0.5 percentage points). Downloaded applications were used by 54 percent of subscribers (up 2.6 percentage points), while browsers were used by 52.6 percent (up 2.4 percentage points). Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 2.1 percentage points to 39 percent of mobile subscribers. Game-playing was done by 34.4 percent of the mobile audience (up 1 percentage point), while 28.6 percent listened to music on their phones (up 1 percentage point).
| Mobile Content Usage 3 Month Avg. Ending Sep. 2012 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Jun. 2012 Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens |
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| Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers | |||
| Jun-12 | Sep-12 | Point Change | |
| Total Mobile Subscribers | 100.0% | 100.0% | N/A |
| Sent text message to another phone | 75.0% | 75.5% | 0.5 |
| Used downloaded apps | 51.4% | 54.0% | 2.6 |
| Used browser | 50.2% | 52.6% | 2.4 |
| Accessed social networking site or blog | 36.9% | 39.0% | 2.1 |
| Played Games | 33.4% | 34.4% | 1.0 |
| Listened to music on mobile phone | 27.6% | 28.6% | 1.0 |
About MobiLens
MobiLens data is derived from an intelligent online survey of a nationally representative sample of mobile subscribers age 13 and older. Data on mobile phone usage refers to a respondent’s primary mobile phone and does not include data related to a respondent’s secondary device.
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.
