According to September data published today by comScore Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), the mobile handset market share leader continues to be Samsung Electronics, followed by LG Electronics, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Motorola, now part of Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), and HTC Corp.

On a three-month average basis, Samsung grabs 26% of the handset market, up 0.4% from June, while LG gets 17.7% (down 1.1%), and Apple gets 17.5% (up 2.1%). HTC lost 0.2%, LG lost 1.1%, and Motorola lost 0.8%. In June, Apple trailed Samsung by 10.2 points but has closed the gap to 8.5 points in September. The Cupertino company now trails LG by just 0.2 points.

In the software operating system (platform) market, Google’s Android gets 52.5% share, followed by Apple with 34.3%, Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) with 8.4%, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) with 3.6%, and Symbian, formerly owned by Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), with 0.6%. Only Google and Apple added share in the three-month period. RIM was the big loser, down 2.3%. In June Apple trailed Google by 19.2 points, but closed the gap to 18.2 points in September.

comScore claims there are 234 million mobile devices in the U.S. in the hands of users 13 years of age and older. The most used application on mobile devices is text messaging, which more than 75.5% of mobile device owners say they use. Downloaded apps are used by 54% of subscribers and 52.6% use a web browser. Social networking or blog access attracts 39% of users and 34.4% played games on their mobile devices. Finally, 28.6% of mobile subscribers listen to music on their mobile devices. All these numbers are higher than in the June 2012 survey.

Paul Ausick

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