Apple continues to hold lead over RIM in US mobile market

Samsung Electronics Co. continued to dominate the U.S. market for mobile subscribers in the three months ended in July, while Apple Inc. preserved its lead over Blackberry-maker Research in Motion Ltd., according to market researcher comScore Inc.

The results of comScore's survey of more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers come amid stiff competition among makers of mobile phones and software.

Samsung's lead as of the latest period rose to 25.5% from 24.5% in the three months ended in April. Apple maintained its position in the No. 4 spot, dominating Research in Motion with a 9.5% share.

In the No. 5 spot, Research in Motion saw its share decline 0.6 percentage points to 7.6%.Meanwhile, Google Inc.'s Android continued to lead in the smartphone platform market, jumping 5.4 percentage points to reach a 41.8% market share. Apple followed in the No. 2 spot, rising 1 percentage point to a 27% share.

Google, which licenses its Android mobile operating system freely to mobile phone makers, earlier this month agreed to acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. for about $12.5 billion, giving it its own in-house hardware operation.

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