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Apple and Samsung are still the only smartphone companies winning in the U.S.

Published Oct 4th, 2013 4:30PM EDT
Apple Samsung U.S. Market Share

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It’s hard to make a case that any company other than Apple or Samsung has any momentum in the American smartphone market. The latest numbers from comScore show that the smartphone industry’s heavy hitters further consolidated their hold on the United States smartphone market by growing to a combined 65% share of all U.S. smartphones by the end of August 2013. In all, Apple’s share of the U.S. market grew from 39.2% in May 2013 to 40.7% in August 2013 while Samsung’s grew from 23% in May to 24.3% in May. No other major vendor increased its market share over this period, as HTC, LG, Motorola and BlackBerry all saw their market shares either fall or stay stagnant. ComScore’s press release follows below.

comScore Reports August 2013 U.S. Smartphone Subscriber Market Share

Android and iPhone Combine to Account for More than 92 Percent of U.S. Smartphone Market

RESTON, VA, October 4, 2013  – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from comScore MobiLens and Mobile Metrix, reporting key trends in the U.S. smartphone industry for August 2013. Apple ranked as the top smartphone manufacturer with 40.7 percent OEM market share, while Google Android led as the #1 smartphone platform with 51.6 percent platform market share. Google Sites ranked as the top mobile media property, while Facebook was the top individual app.

Smartphone OEM Market Share

145 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (60.8 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in August, up 3 percent since May. Apple ranked as the top OEM with 40.7 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers (up 1.5 percentage points from May). Samsung ranked second with 24.3 percent market share (up 1.3 percentage points), followed by HTC with 7.4 percent, Motorola with 6.9 percent and LG with 6.7 percent.

Top Smartphone OEMs
3 Month Avg. Ending Aug. 2013 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending May 2013
Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens
Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
May-13 Aug-13 Point Change
Total Mobile Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Apple 39.2% 40.7% 1.5
Samsung 23.0% 24.3% 1.3
HTC 8.7% 7.4% -1.3
Motorola 7.8% 6.9% -0.9
LG 6.7% 6.7% 0.0

Smartphone Platform Market Share

Android ranked as the top smartphone platform in August with 51.6 percent market share, followed by Apple with 40.7 percent (up 1.5 percentage points), BlackBerry with 4 percent, Microsoft with 3.2 percent (up 0.2 percentage points) and Symbian with 0.3 percent.

Top Smartphone Platforms
3 Month Avg. Ending Aug. 2013 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending May 2013
Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens
Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers
May-13 Aug-13 Point Change
Total Smartphone Subscribers 100.0% 100.0% N/A
Android 52.4% 51.6% -0.8
Apple 39.2% 40.7% 1.5
BlackBerry 4.8% 4.0% -0.8
Microsoft 3.0% 3.2% 0.2
Symbian 0.4% 0.3% -0.1

Top Smartphone Properties & Apps

Google Sites ranked as the top web property on smartphones, reaching 92.2 percent of the mobile media audience (mobile browsing and app usage), followed by Facebook (84.6 percent), Yahoo! Sites (83.2 percent) and Amazon Sites (68.6 percent). Facebook ranked as the top smartphone app, reaching 75.7 percent of the app audience, followed by five Google-owned apps: Google Search (53.9 percent), Google Play (53.2 percent), YouTube (52.8 percent), Google Maps (46.1 percent) and Gmail (44.3 percent).

Top 15 Smartphone Properties & Apps
August 2013
Total U.S. Smartphone Mobile Media Users, Age 18+ (iOS and Android Platforms)
Source: comScore Mobile Metrix
  Top 15 Properties % Reach Top 15 Apps % Reach
      Smartphone Browsing + App Audience 100.0%     Smartphone App Audience 100.0%
1     Google Sites 92.2%     Facebook (Mobile App) 75.7%
2     Facebook 84.6%     Google Search (Mobile App) 53.9%
3     Yahoo! Sites 83.2%     Google Play (Mobile App) 53.2%
4     Amazon Sites 68.6%     YouTube (Mobile App) 52.8%
5     AOL, Inc. 50.7%     Google Maps (Mobile App) 46.1%
6     Apple Inc. 50.4%     Gmail (Mobile App) 44.3%
7     Microsoft Sites 46.0%     Apple App Suite (Mobile App) 44.1%
8     Wikimedia Foundation Sites 45.3%     Pandora Radio (Mobile App) 43.3%
9     Pandora.com 43.2%     Yahoo! Stocks (Mobile App) 31.5%
10     eBay 37.4%     Apple Maps (Mobile App) 27.5%
11     Turner Digital 35.2%     Instagram (Mobile App) 27.4%
12     CBS Interactive 34.8%     Yahoo! Weather Widget (Mobile App) 23.4%
13     Glam Media 33.0%     Twitter (Mobile App) 21.7%
14     Weather Company, The 30.0%     The Weather Channel (Mobile App) 20.6%
15     Twitter.com 29.1%     Facebook Messenger (Mobile App) 20.2%

*Apple App Suite includes iTunes, Apple App Store, and Apple Game Center

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.