A new report published Monday by the NPD Group finds that sales of Android phones unexpectedly topped Apple for the first quarter.Based on more than 150,000 self-reported surveys by U.S. consumers NPD found that sales of phones using the BlackBerry OS were first, at 36 percent. But Android phones climbed to 28 percent, above Apple at 21 percent.The numbers are somewhat unexpected, given that other research firms, such as comScore, have placed the Android OS at 10 percent for February.On Friday, IDC released its first-quarter market share data, placing Nokia and RIM atop the worldwide market, with 39.3 percent and 19.4 percent of the market, respectively. Apple finished third, with 16.1 percent, and HTC was fourth at 4.8 percent. IDC did not reveal its share breakdown for the various OS flavors, however.Likewise, for the first quarter within the U.S., comScore said that Samsung, Motorola, and LG finished in a virtual dead heat, with 21.9, 21.9, and 21.8 percent of the market. Again, comScore did not break out first-quarter market share for the various Android flavors.NPD also found that smartphone sales at AT&T comprised nearly a third of the entire smartphone market at 32 percent, followed by Verizon Wireless at 30 percent, T-Mobile at 17 percent and Sprint at 15 percent. Smartphone unit prices averaged $151 in the first quarter, which is a 3 percent decrease over the previous year.

Originally posted to Gearlog.