NPD: Android Surging, BlackBerry Falling, Apple Flat

Here’s a chart pretty much guaranteed to get teeth grinding in Cupertino–new data from NPD showing Android extending its lead as America’s most popular mobile operating system.

The consumer research group says that Google’s software was installed on 44 percent of mobile handsets sold in Q3, up 11 points since Q2. While that data may rile up Apple fans, Android’s gain seems to be primarily fueled by BlackBerry’s loss: Research in Motion lost six points in the last quarter, falling to 22 percent, while Apple’s iOS moved up one point, to 23 percent.

The year-over-year data is more dramatic: It shows BlackBerry’s market share dropping dramatically, and Apple’s less so.

The consolation prize for Apple and RIM is that they had the most-popular individual phone models in the quarter: NPD says the iPhone 4 and the Curve 8500 took the number one and two spots, respectively.

So how did Android gain share? Because it’s on so many other new phones. Canned quote from NPD’s Ross Rubin: “The HTC EVO 4G, Motorola Droid X, and other new high-end Android devices have been gaining momentum at carriers that traditionally have been strong RIM distributors, and the recent introduction of the BlackBerry Torch has done little to stem the tide.”