Android is now the top smartphone OS in six of eight key countries having edged past Nokia's Symbian in Spain, according to the latest quarterly sample data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

In the UK, Android's growth is being driven by non-smartphone owners upgrading, rather than people switching from other platforms. According to the research, 74.3% of new Android sales come from owners of "feature phones"; only 1.4% of new Android owners come from former iPhone owners.

But in the UK it is BlackBerry maker RIM which is doing best in picking up upgrading non-smartphone owners: the study says nearly 85% of its new customers come from feature phone owners. RIM announced on Friday that it had gained 1m users in Europe in just the past three weeks.

The research shows the challenges facing Nokia: of those changing between smartphones, Symbian provides 19% of new iPhone users, 17.5% of new Symbian Android users and 10.9% of new RIM users.

Every four weeks about 2.5% of feature phone owners have shifted to smartphones since April 2010 in the UK, suggesting that the "tipping point" when smartphones make up half of all users lies about a year away, in June 2012.

The UK, US and Australia all show high levels of smartphone penetration and growth, according to the Kantar.

RIM is performing well in the UK, while it is declining in the US and showing no growth in Australia.

Android has grown its share of smartphone users in the UK from 1% to 9.2% between June 2010 and June 2011, though Apple has meanwhile doubled its share of the total installed based from 5.6% to 10.3%. RIM's share grew from 3.7% to 7.4% as smartphone ownership overall grew from 21.3% to 36.9%. But because the overall market grew, Apple's market share fell from 30.6% to 18.3%. ComTech notes though that in the UK the iPhone 4 has been the top-selling smartphone for the past 12 months.

While smartphone ownership in the UK tends to be male-dominated, with 60% being men, RIM has reversed that trend over the past year, shifting from a male-dominated balance a year ago (57% v 43%) to a female-dominated one (45% male to 55% female) now.

There has also been a significant growth in prepay smartphone use in the UK, which has gone from 18% of smartphones to 32% in just one year - though contract tariffs still dominate.

The average price of smartphones has also fallen in the UK, in the contract and prepay markets. Generally, iPhones remain the most expensive, with only 45% of contracts offering the handset for free - compared to more than 90% for Android and RIM phones. That means that Android and RIM phones skew towards a younger demographic, the study found.

For Android owners, the OS brand is seen as the most important element - while for Apple users, it is the availability of apps that they value most.

Kantar Worldpane ComTech's global consumer insight director, Dominic Sunnebo, said: "We are yet to see any real signs of consumers switching between Android and Apple. Our data shows that Apple and Android's customers are intensely loyal when choosing their upgrade. One reason for this is the investment consumers make in their device through apps. In France for example, the average iPhone costs €215, and 17% of iPhone owners download more than 10 apps each month. This investment is then lost if they want to choose a different OS as the apps are non-transferable."

Sunnebo warns that RIM's market gains now may not last: "With 63% of British consumers still owning a non-smartphone, future growth lies with upgrading customers. BlackBerry is currently attracting the most upgrading shoppers with 84.9% of its new customers previously owning a non-smartphone. Our data shows that most first-time smartphone owners look for lower prices. BlackBerry's competitive pricing allows younger consumers to switch to a smartphone device at a price they can afford.

"However, a concern for brands targeting the lower end of the market is that once consumers have tried a smartphone they are prepared to spend more on their next device and could turn to other brands. With more and more consumers buying smartphones the future for middle-to-high-end smartphones is set to become ever more competitive."

He noted though that the BlackBerry Messenger app, which lets people contact each other on RIM phones without incurring text charges, is a key driver of use: 70% of BlackBerry owners aged 16 to 24 had used BBM in the previous four weeks.

Nokia has staged something of a revival in France, where it lost only 3.9% of share in a market that grew 75% year on year – indicating that it grew the number of smartphones it sold. The C7 has been key in that.

Kantar gathers its data from interviewing consumers, carrying out up to 1m interviews in Europe alone. This data excludes enterprise sales, which means that RIM's share in particular may be understated.

Why UK users chose Android or iOS UK users iOS Android RIM Design 13.1 10.9 13.7 Colour 1.0 0.7 0.5 Hand Brand 18.4 6.3 15.2 Ease of use 8.3 9.0 8.6 Multimedia capabilities 30.0 20.3 19.4 Cost of tariff 6.6 17.6 18.3 Network Operator 1.5 4.1 4.7 OS Brand 5.4 14.2 2.0 Applications available 11.5 5.6 5.1 Cost of mobile phone 2.7 9.1 7.0 Free gift with the phone 0.3 0.2 1.2 Other 1.0 2.1 4.3

Data: how iOS and Android users in the UK chose their phone

How iOS and Android users use their phone UK users Total Market Smart-phone iOS Android RIM Downloading Music 9.5 19.4 34.4 16.7 10.4 Listening to Music Playing Games 33.3 59.6 79.0 62.6 54.9 Sending/Receiving emails 32.6 63.5 81.5 63.7 70.9 Internet Navigation 39.2 76.8 92.6 82.3 77.2 Taking Pictures 57.3 80.7 88.5 82.2 81.4 Using Navigation System/GPS 24.9 54.2 76.3 61.7 43.0 Using Instant Messenger Service 15.4 29.6 34.3 23.1 48.9 Downloading/Using an Application 20.6 49.1 73.4 60.2 37.3 Searching the Web Using Social Networking 29.4 59.3 75.2 62.7 60.5

Data: how iOS and Android users use their phone

Smartphone shares by country Country 12 weeks ending 13 June 2010 12 weeks ending 12 June 2011 Change % % % Great Britain Symbian 32.7 10.7 -22 RIM 19.4 22.3 2.9 iOS 30.6 18.3 -12.3 Windows 5.6 2.8 -2.8 Android 10.7 45.2 34.5 Bada 0 0.5 0.5 Other 1 0.2 -0.8 Germany Symbian 51.3 24.8 -26.5 RIM 4.8 3.3 -1.5 iOS 27.6 18.4 -9.2 Windows 10.4 6.3 -4.1 Android 3.1 41.3 4.1 Bada 0 4.1 38.2 Other 2.7 1.7 -1 France Symbian 24.3 20.4 -3.9 RIM 12.9 9.9 -3 iOS 31.2 17.9 -13.3 Windows 10.1 3.2 -6.9 Android 21.1 37.5 16.4 Bada 0 11.2 11.2 Other 0.4 0 -0.4 Italy Symbian 68.3 38.1 -30.2 RIM 6.7 5.8 -0.9 iOS 13.8 20.6 6.8 Windows 8.9 5.7 -3.2 Android 1.6 26.1 24.5 Bada 0 3.6 3.6 Other 0.8 0 -0.8 Spain Symbian 77.8 40.2 -37.6 RIM 1.7 9.3 7.6 iOS 7.2 5.7 -1.5 Windows 1.3 3.6 2.3 Android 7.6 41.3 33.7 Bada 0 0 0 Other 4.4 0 -4.4 United States Symbian 10.1 0.2 -9.9 RIM 32.5 8.8 -23.7 iOS 21.1 28.7 7.6 Windows 12.8 2.6 -10.2 Android 19 57 38 Bada 0 0 0 Other 4.5 2.7 -1.8 Australia Symbian 43.9 20.9 -23 RIM 9.7 2.2 -7.5 iOS 36.3 36.8 0.5 Windows 4.5 2.7 -1.8 Android 4.2 36.4 32.2 Bada 0 0.5 0.5 Other 1.4 0.5 -0.9 Japan Symbian 30.9 3.7 -27.2 RIM 0 0.4 0.4 iOS 37.9 27.7 -10.2 Windows 5.7 3.4 -2.3 Android 25.5 64.7 39.2 Bada 0 0 0 Other 0 0 0

Data: worldwide market share and change for smartphone platforms

• Corrected: ComTech wrongly said that Android was top in 8 countries; it should have said 6 of 8. A statistic about people changing from Symbian should have said they were changing to Android, not Symbian.