Android gaining share in smartphone market

New market share numbers show that Google’s Android mobile operating system is gaining on established platforms from Apple, Microsoft and RIM.

Data from comScore, a market research firm, shows Android gained four points in U.S. mobile market share, based on operating system, for the three months ended in May, compared to the three months ended in February. Its latest market share is 13 percent, putting it within striking distance of third place Microsoft at 13.2 percent in May, from 15.1 percent in February, a drop of 1.9 percent.

RIM, Apple and Palm all lost market share, albeit by fractions.

The complete rundown for the May survey: RIM number one at 41.7 percent share: Apple second at 24.4 percent; Microsoft third at 13.2 percent; Android fourth at 13 percent; and Palm fifth at 4.8 percent.

ComScore notes that the Apple numbers don’t include the launch of iPhone 4, which didn’t begin selling until June, so the numbers in the next report could show an Apple spike. Apple says it sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s in the three days after it went on sale June 24. Despite negative publicity about a defect -- whether in the phone or in the customer is still unsettled -- that caused reception to drop if the phone was held the wrong way, iPhone 4 is expected to be a hit, as usual.

The comScore report is one of many indicators of strength in the smartphone market as owners of more basic phones trade up to devices with more features such as web browsers, social-media capabilities and add-on software applications.

But the news from the comScore numbers is the surge of Android. Google developed the open source operating system with a go-to-market strategy dramatically different than Apple’s. Android is available on a number of different phone brands including HTC, Motorola and Samsung, and on a variety of carriers, whereas the Apple iPhone OS is only available on Apple phones and, so far, only on AT&T in the U.S.

About the only Android phone with sales problems is Google’s own branded Nexus One phone, which was launched in January. Pricier than other Android phones that are sold at subsidized rates with carrier contracts, Google announced in May it would stop selling the Nexus One online.

"As with every innovation, some parts worked better than others,” wrote Andy Rubin, Google’s vice president of engineering, in a blog post. The Nexus One made a list from eWeek of the top 10 smartphones that won’t see 2011.

But seemingly every week brings news of another Android phone hitting the market. The latest is the Samsung Intercept, which goes on sale July 11 through the U.S. carrier Sprint, for $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. Besides running Android 2.1, the Intercept features a 3.2-inch touch-screen display, a 3.2MP camera and a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

Something else to look for in the next comScore market share report -- or the one after that -- is Microsoft’s standing. It was hoping to revive its mobile market share with the Kin line of two smartphones targeted at the social networking-fixated user. But only six weeks after launch, Microsoft canceled the Kin, citing weak sales, making “Kin” replace “Edsel” as corporate shorthand for a phenomenal flop.

Notably, Kin was not on eWeek’s list of smartphones marked for death.

The Kin’s failure puts even more pressure on Microsoft’s new Phone 7 mobile operating system for success. New phones based on that OS are due out by the end of the year.