Android, at 39%, is OS No. 1 in the U.S. But Apple, with 28%, is the No. 1 manufacturer
If you’re having trouble interpreting the chart of the U.S. smartphone market released Thursday by Nielsen, think of it as a brownie pan, a spokesman helpfully suggests, not a pie.
And depending how you slice the brownies, Apple (AAPL) is either No. 2 or No. 1 in the U.S.
When all the Android phones are combined, Google’s (GOOG) smartphone operating system is the clear leader. But because so many manufacturers are competing for a share of the Android brownie, and only Apple can make an iPhone, Apple is America’s leading smartphone manufacturer. By a chewy mouthful.
The details (based on a survey of 20,202 Americans in Q2 2011):
- Android has 39% of the U.S. market
- The iPhone has 28% (iPads and iPod touches not included)
- Research in Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry is down to 20%
- HTC is tied with RIM at 20%, divided between Android (14%) and various Microsoft (MSFT) Windows smartphones (6%)
- Motorola (MOT) is down to 11%
- Samsung has 10%, divided between Android (8%) and Windows (2%)
- Nokia (NOK) and Palm (HPQ) are those thin slices on the right with 2% apiece