The data shows that the smartphone race in the U.S. remains a two horse race in the U.S. between Android and iPhone, with Android maintaining its lead in wireless subscribers. comScore's data:
| Top Smartphone Platforms 3 Month Avg. Ending Oct. 2013 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Jul. 2013 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens |
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| Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers | |||
| Jul-13 | Oct-13 | Point Change | |
| Total Smartphone Subscribers | 100.0% | 100.0% | N/A |
| Android | 51.8% | 52.2% | 0.4 |
| Apple | 40.4% | 40.6% | 0.2 |
| BlackBerry | 4.3% | 3.6% | -0.7 |
| Microsoft | 3.0% | 3.2% | 0.2 |
| Symbian | 0.3% | 0.2% | -0.1 |
Note that subscriber market share is not the same as market share of unit sales, though most media outlets misreport it. comScore's data covers devices and platforms in use by wireless subscribers, rather than sales of new devices to customers.
Traditionally, Apple has had higher subscriber share in the U.S. than it does market share of new sales because the company's iPhones have much longer lifespans than Android devices, especially at the low end that makes up a large chunk of the Android market.
Top OEM
Apple also gained subscriber share as the top OEM in the U.S., but Samsung gained more share in the number two spot. Apple grew from 40.4 percent of U.S. subscribers to 40.6 percent, while Samsung grew from 24.1 percent to 25.4percent. Motorola, HTC, and LG rounded out the top five, as shown in the table below.
Note that BlackBerry didn't make the top five.
| Top Smartphone OEMs 3 Month Avg. Ending Oct. 2013 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Jul. 2013 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens |
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| Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers | |||
| Jul-13 | Oct-13 | Point Change | |
| Total Mobile Subscribers | 100.0% | 100.0% | N/A |
| Apple | 40.4% | 40.6% | 0.2 |
| Samsung | 24.1% | 25.4% | 1.3 |
| Motorola | 6.9% | 7.0% | 0.1 |
| HTC | 8.0% | 6.7% | -1.3 |
| LG | 6.8% | 6.6% | -0.2 |
Tuesday's reports don't represent much change in the U.S. subscriber market in terms of trends, though it does highlight the problem that BlackBerry faces. Apple and Google have been duking it out in platforms, while Apple and Samsung are duking it out as hardware makers. It's BlackBerry, however, who has the black eyes.