Android Now on More Than 50 Percent of U.S. Smartphones

Android use continues to grow and has now crossed 50 percent market share in the U.S. according to newly released numbers from comScore.

The research firm estimates that just over half of the 104 million smartphones in America run Google’s operating system, up 17 percentage points from a year ago.

Ownership of iPhones continues to grow in the U.S. as well, representing 30 percent of the smartphone market — up 5 percentage points from a year ago.

Google and Apple’s gains have come at the expense of the other players in the market, which include Research In Motion at 13 percent and Microsoft at just under 4 percent share.

In terms of the overall market, including non-smartphones, Samsung is the top individual hardware maker, accounting for just over a quarter of the 234 million phones owned by those 13 and older. That’s essentially the same share it had a year ago.

Korea’s LG is next with 19.4 percent share, followed by Apple at 13.5 percent of total handsets, Motorola at 12.8 percent and HTC at 6.3 percent.