03Jan2011

Ahead of rumored Verizon iPhone, Apple widens smartphone lead in U.S.

“According to November 2010 data, Apple holds 28.6 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, up slightly from 27.9 percent in October,” Ryan Kim reports for GigaOM.

“BlackBerry OS slipped again in November to 26.1 percent, down from 27.4 percent in October and 33.9 percent in June,” Kim reports. “Android OS, meanwhile, closed the distance on Apple — reaching 25.8 percent in November, compared to 22.7 percent in October and 15 percent in June.”

Kim reports, “While Apple’s marketshare remains stable, Android continues to climb and BlackBerry OS shows no signs of halting its slide. While the overall marketshare puts the three rivals within just a few percentage points of each other, the latest numbers suggest that RIM is struggling to connect with users with its latest BlackBerry 6.0 devices and has a lot of work ahead of it. Android’s fast-paced growth, meanwhile, could put it on track to overtake iOS in the next month or two. But the market picture could also get altered significantly when Apple releases an iPhone on Verizon.”

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