Android Tops 50% Market Share in the U.S. [STUDY]

Android's share of the U.S. smartphone market topped 50% for the first time in February, according to comScore's MobiLens.

The figures were a 17-point increase over February 2011. Apple's share for iOS for the month was 30.2%, which was up five points over the same time period. RIM's BlackBerry platform claimed 13.4% vs. 28.9% in February 2011 while Microsoft had 3.9% of the market compared to the previous 7.7%. (The report didn't specify which version or versions of Microsoft's mobile operating systems were being measured.)

Overall, in February, 234 million Americans aged 13 and up used mobile devices. Some 69.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during that time.

Google's success with seeding the market with Android-based phones comes a day after Horace Dediu, an analyst with Asymco, ran the numbers and discovered that Google only makes $1.70 per Android device compared to the $576.30 that Apple makes per iPhone sale.