As the worldwide smartphone market continues to expand, the battle between the two primary players, iOS and Android, continues to sizzle.

Market research firm Canalys has thrown some fuel on that fire by noting that Apple is now the leading smartphone maker in the U.S., but Android as an OS has greater marketshare.

This study, which covers Q3 2010, notes that the smartphone market has grown 95% on a global level, when compared to the quarter a year ago. While Nokia remains the leading global smartphone maker, its dominance is shrinking at an ever-increasing rate.

Additionally, as Steve Jobs noted during Apple's recent quarterly earnings call, the iPhone maker has topped RIM both worldwide (17% versus 15%) and unseated the BlackBerry maker as the top smartphone manufacturer in the U.S.

According to Canalys, Apple pushed past RIM to gain 26.2% of the U.S. smartphone market in this period. In terms of shipments, this puts Apple at 5.5 million for the quarter.







Android Still Dominating

While Apple is the leading smartphone maker in the U.S. — and one of the leading vendors in the world — Android still took the lead when it comes to sheer number of devices.

According to Canalys, 9.1 million Android units were shipped by various Open Handset Alliance partners in the third quarter of 2010. The equates to 43.6% of devices sold.

Google and Android may continue to argue over what OS is moving more mobile units per day — Apple counts all iOS devices including the iPod touch and iPad, and presumably Google does the same for Android. But as far as phone versus phone is concerned, Android's vast array of devices is outpacing the iPhone by a large margin.

Still Room in This Game

There's no denying that Android is quickly becoming Symbian's heir apparent in terms of manufacturer support, device variety and market share. Still, this doesn't preclude other phone manufacturers or OS makers from getting some skin on the game.

Microsoft may have only managed to pull off 3% of smartphone sales worldwide for the quarter, but this was with a dying, legacy platform. Windows Phone 7 has already launched in many parts of the world and is coming to the U.S. next week.

RIM still has a growing market in the Middle East and Asia. And whether in flux, Nokia is still kicking. This is a market that is going to only get bigger and as that happens, the opportunities for segmentations and niche focus can provide opportunities for vendors of all stripes.

For now, however, Android remains the rising star and the "once and future king" of the smartphone OS market.