Research firm comScore today released the results of its latest survey of mobile phone users in the United States, finding that Google's Android and Apple's iOS continue to dominate the smartphone landscape.
The highlight of comScore's report is Android passing 50% of installed smartphone user base for the first time, grabbing 50.1% of the market during the three-month period of December through February. That marks a gain of 3.2 percentage points since the previous three-month period and a gain of 17 percentage points over the past year. But Apple's iPhone has also seen strong performance, gaining 1.5 percentage points over the previous period and 5 percentage point year-over-year to hit 30.2% of the market.
Notably, Apple has also moved passed Motorola in overall mobile phone user base in the United States, with Apple's share growing by 2.3 percentage points over the previous three-month period while Motorola's share shrank by 0.9 percentage points. Apple now holds the third highest share of mobile phone user base in the United States, placing behind Samsung and LG.
comScore's data tracks installed user base rather than new handset sales, making it more reflective of real-world usage but slower to respond to shifting market trends than some other studies. The difference between those two types of studies was highlighted in a Nielsen report from last week which showed very similar number to comScore's data among "all smartphone owners" in the United States. But with the strength of the iPhone 4S launch, Nielsen's numbers showed that Android's 16-point lead over the iPhone was narrowed to 5 points when looking only at those who purchased their devices within the past three months.
Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld.
The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld.
Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026.
"I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by Juli Clover
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do.
The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up.
Upgraded Architecture
The next-generation...
Saturday February 7, 2026 9:26 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today shared an ad that shows how the upgraded Center Stage front camera on the latest iPhones improves the process of taking a group selfie.
"Watch how the new front facing camera on iPhone 17 Pro takes group selfies that automatically expand and rotate as more people come into frame," says Apple. While the ad is focused on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the regular iPhone...
Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April.
Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far.
iOS 26.3
iPhone to Android Transfer Tool
iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
Android phones are given away for free like it's going out of style, have 10,000 different phones on the market and are on every carrier known to mankind. Who gives a crap if they have 50% market share. Their ecosystem still sucks, is ridden with spyware apps, get's the crappiest support from developers and gets zero love from Google in regards to actually updating the OS. They could have 99.9% market share for all I care and it wouldn't make any difference to how I feel about those kind of phones. I'm 150,000% satisfied with my iPhone 4, will buy the iPhone 5 and continue to buy each iteration of the iPhone after that. Nobody can compete with Apple :)
The funny thing is Google actually makes more money from iOS then it does from Android. Aw, the irony of it all.
Android phones are given away for free like it's going out of style, have 10,000 different phones on the market and are on every carrier known to mankind. Who gives a crap if they have 50% market share. Their ecosystem still sucks, is ridden with spyware apps, get's the crappiest support from developers and gets zero love from Google in regards to actually updating the OS. They could have 99.9% market share for all I care and it wouldn't make any difference to how I feel about those kind of phones. I'm 150,000% satisfied with my iPhone 4, will buy the iPhone 5 and continue to buy each iteration of the iPhone after that. Nobody can compete with Apple :)
That's what most Mac users said about the PC and Windows in the early 90s.
