Nielsen: Apple Leading U.S. Smartphone Manufacturer, Android Leading OS

No surprises here. Google’s Android operating system continues to lead its rivals in the race for U.S. smartphone market dominance, pulling further ahead of Apple, Research In Motion and pretty much everyone else.

According to Nielsen’s latest survey of the U.S. smartphone market, Android now holds a 39 percent share of the U.S. consumer smartphone market — up three percent from the research outfit’s last report, which tracked market share between February and April. Apple’s iOS holds the second largest with 28 percent, up from 26 percent. And RIM’s BlackBerry holds third with a 20 percent share, down three percent from that February-April 2011 time period.

So, the same basic breakdown we’ve been seeing for a while now. That said, viewed through the manufacturer-share lens, the market looks quite different. There, Apple is the undisputed leader; RIM and HTC rank second with 20 percent shares; and Motorola, with an 11 percent share, ranks third.

Bringing up the rear: Hewlett-Packard and the long-suffering Nokia, with a meager two percent.