comScore today released the results of its latest survey of mobile phone usage in the United States, revealing that Apple is quickly approaching a 10% share of the U.S. mobile phone market. Among the top mobile phone manufacturers, Apple led the pack in growth between the three-month period ending in May and the period ending in August, growing by 1.1 percentage point to hit 9.8% of the U.S. market.
Looking specifically at smartphones and measuring platforms instead of manufacturers, Apple checked in at 27.3% of the market, up 0.7% over the prior period but trailing Android's 5.6 percentage point growth.
The reports also highlight the rapid deterioration in Research in Motion's market share. Apple and RIM had been neck and neck in share just four reports ago, covering the February-April 2011 period, but RIM has fallen to under 20% of the smartphone market as Apple has surpassed 27%.
comScore's surveys track installed user base rather than recent sales as tracked by many other firms. As a result, comScore's numbers react more slowly to changing trends in mobile phone sales than shorter-range measures of recent sales. But comScore's numbers would be more accurate reflections of actual consumer usage given typical upgrade cycles on the order of 18 months for average users.
Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon.
Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week.
iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
Thursday December 11, 2025 11:28 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21.
There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28.
The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you.
Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. iOS 26.2 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation iPhone SE.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports.
In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
Thursday December 11, 2025 10:31 am PST by Juli Clover
The AirTag 2 will include a handful of new features that will improve tracking capabilities, according to a new report from Macworld. The site says that it was able to access an internal build of iOS 26, which includes references to multiple unreleased products.
Here's what's supposedly coming:
An improved pairing process, though no details were provided. AirTag pairing is already...
Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below.
Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Friday December 12, 2025 10:08 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released macOS Tahoe 26.2, the second major update to the macOS Tahoe operating system that came out in September. macOS Tahoe 26.2 comes five weeks after Apple released macOS Tahoe 26.1.
Mac users can download the macOS Tahoe update by using the Software Update section of System Settings.
macOS Tahoe 26.2 includes Edge Light, a feature that illuminates your face with soft...
Well, I can tell you that the Google install base will be going up thanks to me. :D
It's been fun with with my iPhone 3G and iPhone 4, but I think it's time for me to move on to something new. Android here I come. Doesn't anyone feel this way?
You won't know how much Android sucks until you try it for yourself. :-)
While there are many people that feel that way, I know just as many that are ready to come back to the iPhone 4S after owning an Android device.
Well, I can tell you that the Google install base will be going up thanks to me. :D
It's been fun with with my iPhone 3G and iPhone 4, but I think it's time for me to move on to something new. Android here I come. Doesn't anyone feel this way?
No! I use several different Android phones from different manufacturers at work. The battery life is abysmal with all of them. I love the feature in Android that when an app crashes that causes the OS to freeze up I am forced to remove the battery to get it to restart. I guess there is more than one reason to have a removal battery.
Sorry but given my first hand experience with Android phones I have no desire to buy one. And yes I have used the Samsung Galaxy S II.
Well they can kiss that percentage goodbye after yesterdays crappy announcement ...
The thing announced yesterday that will affect the percentage the most is not the new 4S. It's the lower prices on the 4 and the 3GS.
The 3GS was already a top selling model last quarter, better selling than all or nearly all of the current Android models. The zero up-front subsidized price on the 3GS price will boost iPhone market share in the U.S, even if the 4 and 4S together barely hold the percentage they had last month.
Between the free 3GS, the $99 iPhone 4, and greater availability, Apple's legitimately making a market share play... and is gonna snap up much of the lower-end market where Andriod was winning.
The high-end folks (most of us on MR) might be disappointed with the 4S, but the lower end of the market is rubbing their hands with glee.
Wait until you see the market share pie charts for next year. The strategy will become evident.
