Android on 40% of Smartphones in the US, Says Nielsen

More and more mobile phone users in the United States that are over 18 years of age own a smartphone, and most of them chose devices powered by Google's Android OS, the latest data from Nielsen show.

Over 40 percent of these users had a smartphone in July, the report shows, explaining that 40 percent of all smartphone owners had an Android-based handsets.

The number of users who chose Apple's iPhone was much smaller, as they accounted for only 28 percent of the smartphone segment in the United States, the research firm shows.

When it comes to the future purchase plans of these users, equal numbers said that they would go for Android or iOS, thought it seems that other mobile platforms constitute the OS of choice for a great deal of mobile users.

“Among those who say they are likely to get a new smartphone in the next year, approximately one third say they want their next smartphone to be an iPhone and one third say they want an Android device,” Don Kellogg, Director of Telecom Research and Insights, notes in a blog post.

The research firm also questioned users on whether they would be among the first to choose a new technology, and learned that around 40 percent of those who are “early adopters” would go for Google's Android OS, while only 32 percent of them said they would chose iOS.

“Among likely smartphone upgraders, it is the “Late Adopters” who are most likely to say they are “not sure” which operating system they’d like in their next smartphone. In politics as in smartphones, these “undecideds” will be the ones device makers will be hoping to win over,” the research firm continues.

Some of the latest speculations regarding the future of the mobile market suggested that smartphones will come to dominate the industry in the following few years. They should account for around 97 percent for the mobile market in the next five years or so.