Google overtakes Apple in the US smartphone platform market

Share of Google’s Android in the US smartphone platform market increased to 28.7 percent in the last quarter of 2010, overtaking the share held by Apple, said a report by comScore on Monday.

However, BlackBerry’s RIM remained at the top position with a share of 31.6 percent, despite losing a share of 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of last year,

While Apple’s share increased to 0.7 percent to 25 percent in the Oct-Dec 2010, Microsoft saw its share declining to 8.4 percent compared with 9.9 percent in the previous quarter. Palm’s share also decreased to 3.7 percent from 4.2 percent.

Overall, smartphone ownership in the US increased to 63.2 million in the quarter, up 60 percent compared with same period a year earlier.

Separately, a report from IDC showed that worldwide shipments of smartphones rose 74.4 percent to 302.6 million in 2010.

IDC data showed that share of market leader Nokia falling to 33.1 percent last year compared with 39 percent in 2009, while BlackBerry maker RIM's share decreased from 20 percent to 16 percent.

On the other hand, Apple saw it share rising to 15.7 percent in 2010 from 14.5 percent in 2009.

Shipments of Samsung and HTC which run on Android increased sharply last year accounting for 18.1 percent of worldwide smartphone market.

Android continues to gain by leaps and bounds, helping to drive the smartphone market, said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC.