Google Android now accounts for 1 in 3 smartphone users

Google Android is still leading the way in the US smartphone market with a 33% share, according to comScore’s latest figures for the three month period to the end of February 2011.

In the US, more than 69.5 million people now own a smartphone – up 13% period on period. During the three months, Google Android grew 7.0 percentage points, strengthening its number one position.

RIM ranked second with a slightly lower 28.9% market share, while Apple sits in third place with a 25.2% share. Microsoft and Palm also feature in the top five list.

However, many more consumers own a mobile device – 234 million Americans aged 13 and over. In the overall mobile market, Samsung handsets are the most popular with a 24.8% share of US mobile subscribers.

LG is the second most popular device, followed by Motorola and RIM. In the OEM market, Apple saw the biggest gain in the three month period, up 0.9 percentage points to account for 7.5% of subscribers.

The Verizon iPhone was the most acquired handset in February, according to comScore.

68.8% of US mobile subscribers used text messaging on their phones in February, while browsers were used by 38.4% of subscribers (up 3.1 percentage points).

36.6% of mobile users downloaded applications  during the month, while 26.8% access social networks and blogs.

Playing games represented 24.6% of the mobile audience, while listening to music also proved popular (17.5%).