Portable Electronics Ltd // Technology you can carry.

Smartphones and the consumption of mobile data continue to grow in popularity in the U.S. – 37 percent of mobile consumers now have one  – and Google’s Android operating system (OS) is proving to be the most popular.  According to Nielsen’s April survey of mobile consumers, 36 percent of smartphone consumers now have an Android device, compared to 26 percent for Apple iOS smartphones (iPhones) and 23 percent for RIM Blackberry.

Hungry for Data
Consumers with Android and Apple iOS smartphones exhibit data-intensive usage:

Handsets running Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android software captured 57 percent of Japan’s smartphone market last fiscal year, cutting the share of Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone, MM Research Institute Ltd. said.

Shipments of Android phones rose to 4.91 million units in the year ended March 31, Tokyo-based MM Research said in a statement today. That compares with sales of 250,000 units, or 11 percent of the market, a year earlier when devices running Google’s software started to be widely available in Japan.

Smartphone Platform Market Share

72.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in March 2011, up 15 percent from the preceding three-month period. Google Android grew 6.0 percentage points to 34.7 percent market share, while RIM ranked second with 27.1 percent. Apple grew 0.5 points to 25.5 percent share, followed by Microsoft (7.5 percent) and Palm (2.8 percent).

According to The Nielsen Company’s monthly surveys of U.S. mobile consumers from July-September 2010, consumers planning on getting a new smartphone had a very clear preference: A third (33%) wanted an Apple iPhone. Slightly more than a quarter (26%) said they desired a device with the Google Android operating system (OS). And 13 percent said they wanted a RIM Blackberry.

comScore’s analysis of the unduplicated audience reach of the Apple iOS platform across iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches revealed a combined iOS installed base of 37.9 million users. The installed base of iPhones slightly exceeded that of iPod Touches, both of which were approximately twice as high as the number of iPads. Interestingly, among the 37.9 million consumers with access to the Apple iOS, only 4 million (10.5 percent) accessed the platform via more than one device.

Global Findings

Total mobile advertising impressions on the InMobi network grew by 21 percent (December 2010 to March 2011). This was driven by the large influx of smartphone impressions, which increased by 2.8 billion during the period.

Globally, 35 percent of all mobile ad impressions now occur on smartphones.

Some 28 per cent of smartphone users have Android phones, 26 per cent use iPhones and 14 per cent own a BlackBerry, a study by digital banking provider Intelligent Environments found.

More than 4million adults in Britain own an Android phone, with 36 per cent of them aged 25 to 34 - although the research found they are popular with both young professionals and older people, with 25% of retired people who own a smartphone having an Android.

Smartphone Platform Market Share

69.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in February 2011, up 13 percent from the preceding three-month period. Google Android grew 7.0 percentage points since November, strengthening its #1 position with 33.0 percent market share. RIM ranked second with 28.9 percent market share, followed by Apple with 25.2 percent. Microsoft (7.7 percent) and Palm (2.8 percent) rounded out the top five.

According to ABI Research 302 million smartphones shipped in 2010, chalking up a resounding 71% growth over 2009’s shipment levels.

Android’s success since its launch is expected to continue: some 69 million smartphones running the Android operating system shipped last year, and ABI Research expects that in 2016 Android will have captured 45% of the market.

The worldwide smartphone market is expected to grow 49.2% in 2011 as more consumers and enterprise users turn in their feature phones for smartphones with more advanced features. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, smartphone vendors will ship more than 450 million smartphones in 2011 compared to the 303.4 million units shipped in 2010.