Apple top smartphone manufacturer, Android top OS

Market intelligence firm Nielsen has named Apple the top smartphone manufacturer in the US in its end-of-year recap.

Apple may have triumphed over rival smartphone makers such as HTC and Research In Motion (RIM) in 2011 but its iOS platform was no match for Google’s Android platform in terms of mobile operating market share, said market researcher the NPD Group.

NPD found that Android had grown to command 53 percent of the smartphone market in the US in the period from January through to October 2011 while Apple’s iOS platform represented 29 percent of all smartphone operating systems on the market.

Apple’s iPhone accounted for just under one third (29%) of new smartphone purchases in the US from August to October, said Nielsen.

A further 21 percent of mobile phone users who recently purchased a new smartphone in the country opted for a device made by HTC. RIM’s BlackBerry smartphones commanded a 17% share of new smartphone purchases in the US, putting the smartphone maker in third place, and Samsung and Motorola were tied for fourth and fifth with 11% percent of the market each.

With both the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and Mobile World Congress (MWC) on the horizon in 2012, most smartphone makers are gearing up for a season of high-profile handset announcements and mobile operating system updates.

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