Commentary
234 Million Americans Making Negligible Changes in Mobile Phone Industry
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 10, 2010
According to the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month period ending March 2010 compared to the preceding three-month period, Samsung, Motorola and LG separated by a mere fraction of a percentage point of market share among handset manufacturers, while Verizon led among mobile operators with 31.1% market share.
In the 3 month average ending in March, 234 million Americans age 13 and older were mobile subscribers, with device manufacturer Samsung ranking as the top OEM at a 21.9% share of U.S. mobile subscribers, inching out Motorola by a fraction of a percent. LG ranked closely behind them, with RIM and Nokia rounding out the top five.
Top Mobile OEMs (3 Month Avg. Ending Mar. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Dec. 2009; Total U.S. Age 13+) | |||
| Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers | ||
| Dec-09 | Mar-10 | Point Change |
Total Mobile Subscribers | 100.0% | 100.0% | N/A |
Samsung | 21.2% | 21.9% | 0.7 |
Motorola | 23.5% | 21.9% | -1.6 |
LG | 21.9% | 21.8% | -0.1 |
RIM | 7.0% | 8.3% | 1.3 |
Nokia | 9.2% | 8.3% | -0.9 |
Source: comScore MobiLens, May 2010 | |||
In a ranking of the top mobile operators in the U.S. during the 3 month average ending in March, Verizon led the market with 31.1% of mobile subscribers. AT&T ranked second, up 0.2 percentage points from the period ending December 2009. Sprint narrowly grabbed the #3 position, closely trailed by T-Mobile.
Top Mobile Operators (3 Month Avg. Ending Mar. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Dec. 2009; Total U.S. Age 13+) | |||
| Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers | ||
| Dec-09 | Mar-10 | Point Change |
Total Audience: 13+ yrs old | 100.0% | 100.0% | N/A |
Verizon | 31.2% | 31.1% | -0.1 |
AT&T (Cingular) | 25.0% | 25.2% | 0.2 |
Sprint | 12.1% | 12.0% | -0.1 |
T-Mobile | 12.1% | 12.0% | -0.1 |
Tracfone | 4.8% | 5.1% | 0.3 |
Source: comScore MobiLens, May 2010 | |||
In an average month during the January through March 2010 time period, 63.7% of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 0.6 percentage points versus three months prior. Browsers were used by 30.1% of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 2.6 percentage points), while subscribers who used downloaded applications made up 28.6% of the mobile audience (up 2.6 percentage points). Access of social networking sites or blogs continued to increase among mobil subscribers.
Mobile Content Usage (3 Month Avg. Ending Mar. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Dec. 2009; Total U.S. Age 13+) | |||
| Share (%) of U.S. Mobile Subscribers | ||
| Dec-09 | Mar-10 | Point Change |
Total Mobile Subscribers | 100.0% | .0% | N/A |
Sent text message to another phone | 63.1% | 63.7% | 0.6 |
Used browser | 27.5% | 30.1% | 2.6 |
Used downloaded apps | 26.0% | 28.6% | 2.6 |
Played games | 21.6% | 21.8% | 0.2 |
Accessed social networking site or blog | 15.9% | 18.7% | 2.8 |
Listened to music on mobile phone | 12.1% | 13.2% | 1.1 |
Source: comScore MobiLens, May 2010 | |||
For additional information from comScore, please visit here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.
I'm having a hard time with this data, perhaps I'm not understanding or interpreting it properly. The share of mobile subscribers for March 2010 in the first data set reflects 100% of mobile subscribers but doesn't have Apple?
Does Apple use one of the listed companies as the OEM for the iPhone?
I wondered the same thing. What I found is that although Apple has 16% of the smart phone market, it has only 5% of the overall mobile market.
The Samsung is much cheaper that the Iphone when you get to the store and compare them side by side. It competes pretty well.
We're hearing complaints about the multitasking ability on Apple's IPad. Teens are saying they can't listen to music, go online or do other things at the same time. If there is a way Apple needs to advertise it. Their stores are buzzing with consumers but sales could be better. Many of the teens we are talking with are happy with other choices.