Android dominates US smartphone market, Apple gains market share

Google Inc.'s Android mobile software system dominated the U.S. smartphone market in 2011, representing a share of about 53%, according to research firm NPD Group.

Android phones and Apple Inc.'s iPhone continued to take market share from former market leader Research In Motion Ltd. and others this year. Apple's share reached 29%, while BlackBerry maker Research In Motion's share fell to 11%.

"The competitive landscape for smartphones, which has been reshaped by Apple and Google, has ultimately forced every major handset provider through a major transition," said Ross Rubin, an executive director at NPD Group."For many of them, 2012 will be a critical year in assessing how effective their responses have been."

Research In Motion, which accounted for half of all smartphone sales in the second quarter of 2006, had slid to an 8% share in the third quarter of this year, NPD said. The company, which is preparing to introduce smartphones on its next-generation platform, has been making incremental improvements this year with its release of the BlackBerry 7 system.

Research In Motion is now No. 5 among smartphone original-equipment manufacturers, behind Apple, HTC Corp., Samsung Electronics and Motorola.

Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. has benefited from the adoption of Android, which boosted its share of smartphone sales to 16% in the fourth quarter of 2010, before it settled back to 12% in the third quarter of this year, NPD said.

Google, which is in the process of acquiring Motorola Mobility in a $12.5 billion deal, is expected to use the company's patent pool to protect other Android licenses, according to Rubin

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