In January, Android climbed into the top spot as the most popular mobile operating system used by smartphones in the U.S., comScore said in a report published Monday.
Samsung, LG, and Motorola remained the top three mobile OEMs.
Google's Android climbed 7.7 points to finish at 31.2 percent for the month of January versus Oct. 2010, which includes a three-month moving average. RIM, whose share has fallen precipitously even as Android's share has climbed, fell 5.4 points to 30.4 percent of the market. Apple held steady at 24.7 percent. Microsoft and Palm finished with 8.0 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.
For the three months ending in December, comScore reported that RIM's share had dropped by 5.7 percent to 31.6 percent, while Google's Android share had risen 7.3 percent to 28.7 percent. Android remained in second place for just two short months, comScore said.
ComScore measures total U.S. mobile subscribers ages 13 and over.
Android's popularity has risen steadily, even as RIM's influence in the smartphone market has waned.
In January, Nielsen reported that Android's popularity had shot up, although Apple's iOS platform remained on top. This month, the landscape changed:
In February, IDC reported that RIM remained on top of the smartphone market in terms of actual sales, but that its market share was plunging, from 19.9 percent a year ago to 14.5 percent for the fourth quarter of 2010.
In another data point, Android topped iOS within Millennial Media's ad network for the second month in a row.
ComScore also reported that for the three months ending in January, 65.8 million people owned smartphones, an 8 percent increase from October. About 234 million Americans owned phones, period.
Samsung climbed 0.7 percent to finish with 24.9 percent of the market. LG and Motorola slipped 0.2 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively, versus October, to finish with 21.0 percent and 17.7 percent. RIM fell by 0.7 percent to finish fourth at 8.6 percent. Apple, which gained 0.6 percent, was fifth at 7.0 percent.