Android Ekes Ahead of Apple, BlackBerry

The New York-based research company reported that 29 percent of smartphones now run Android, with the iPhone and various BlackBerry devices each holding 27 percent of the market. Those three frontrunners enjoy a substantial lead over Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 software, which runs on 10 percent of smartphones in the U.S., followed by HP's WebOS and Nokia's Symbian platforms with just four percent and two percent, respectively.

"Who is winning the U.S. smartphone battle? The answer depends on whether you're looking at operating systems or manufacturers", Nielsen said in a statement. "An analysis by manufacturer shows RIM and Apple to be the winners compared to other device makers, since they are the only one creating and selling smartphones with their respective operating systems".

Among Android phone makers, HTC had 12 percent of Android market, while 10 percent belonged to Motorola. Samsung came in third with five percent.

The timing and targeting are both significant; the results don't include the Verizon iPhone launch in February, which bumped up iPhone sales, or business users, which are a large part of BlackBerry's market share. Furthermore, Nielsen acquired data from a poll rather than a more accurate breakdown of sales figures.

In any case, the battle for first is far from over. Apple, expected to introduce the iPhone 5 this June, is also working on a low-cost iPhone-mini device that could dramatically enlarge its potential market.

RIM, too, is not ready to cede the market to its rivals. Currently, it is preparing the Storm 3, its most advanced handset yet, as well as the highly-anticipated PlayBook tablet that will run on a new QNX platform, which will also be ported to a series of "super" smartphones.

Nokia and Microsoft, meanwhile, hope to shake up the market with their new partnership, which will see Windows running on Nokia handsets.

Even so, momentum seems to be with Android for now. In a move to boost its overall mobile ecosystem, Google recently gave a much-needed facelift to Android Market, enabling users to buy smartphone apps on the Web, a popular feature.

This year, it plans to hire 6,000 engineers to work on a variety of technologies, including mobile-payments, and it is recruiting teams internally to produce slick apps for the mobile platform.

For the study, Nielsen interviewed 14,700 smartphone subscribers between November 2010 and January 2011. The survey was restricted to consumers, excluding business users.