Market research firm Nielsen on Thursday announced that as of February 2012, about half of all mobile subscribers in the United States own a smartphone. In the same month last year, only 36% of U.S. mobile subscribers owned smartphones. Almost half of all smartphones, or 48%, are powered by Google’s Android operating system, with Apple’s iPhone representing 32% of the market and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry platform capturing an 11.6% share. Of those who recently acquired a smartphone, however, 48% chose an Android device while 43% purchased an iPhone and just 5% purchased a BlackBerry. Smartphone adoption has increased rapidly over the past year, with more than two-thirds of those who purchased a new mobile device in the last three months choosing a smartphone over a feature phone. Read on for Nielsen’s press release.

Smartphones Account for Half of all Mobile Phones, Dominate New Phone Purchases in the US

March 29, 2012

Almost half (49.7%) of U.S. mobile subscribers now own smartphones, as of February 2012. According to Nielsen, this marks an increase of 38 percent over last year; in February 2011, only 36 percent of mobile subscribers owned smartphones. This growth is driven by increasing smartphone adoption, as more than two-thirds of those who acquired a new mobile device in the last three months chose a smartphone over a feature phone.

Overall, Android continues to lead the smartphone market in the U.S., with 48 percent of smartphone owners saying they owned an Android OS device. Nearly a third (32.1%) of smartphone users have an Apple iPhone, and Blackberry owners represented another 11.6 percent of the smartphone market. Among recent acquirers who got their smartphone within the last three months, 48 percent of those surveyed in February said they chose an Android and 43 percent bought an iPhone.