Android has a bigger U.S. market share than all other mobile operating systems combined, according to a new report by Nielsen.

Nielsen's research shows that 51.8% of smartphone owners in the U.S. use an Android handset. Apple's iOS has a 34.3% market share, and the rest is divided between RIM's BlackBerry (8.1%) and Microsoft's Windows Mobile and Windows Phone 7 platforms (4.3%).

Symbian and Palm OS both have less than one percent market share: 0.9% and 0.6%, respectively.

This is in line with a recent report from comScore, which claimed Android topped 50% market share in February 2012.







Nielsen's numbers from recent smartphone acquirers (last three months) paint an even rosier picture for Android and iOS, with their respective market shares jumping to 54.6% and 36.3%, at the expense of everyone else.

Digging a little bit deeper into those numbers reveals Apple's dominance on the market, as it is by far the biggest manufacturer out there with its 34.3% share. Samsung is number two with a 17% share, followed by HTC, Motorola and RIM. It's also interesting to note that overall, Nokia is bested by both Samsung and HTC even when it comes to Windows 7 handsets.

We'll see how these numbers will change after two extremely important devices hit the market: Samsung's Galaxy S III and Apple's upcoming iPhone, probably due to be launched this fall.