comScore released the MobiLens service report on the U.S. mobile market for the period ending July 2012. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and compares the dynamics of the market over the past three months.

Increasingly, the use of mobile phones is growing, as more people use smartphones as tools for work, leisure and communication.  According to comScore, in the U.S. alone there are more than four billion mobile phones in full use, of which 27 percent or equivalent to 1.08 billion devices are smartphones.

Samsung still rules, but Apple is catching up

In the manufacturers race for producing tablets and other mobile devices, Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.6 percent of U.S market share, but lost 0.3 percent compared to the previous three months, followed by LG with 18.4 percent share.

Apple, by contrast, is slowly gaining shares in the OEM market. Apple is now ranked third with 16.3 percent of mobile subscribers, an increase of 1.9 percent percentage points compared to the last three months.

We also see that Apple is the only manufacturer to have recorded an increase in sales in April than in July (+1.9%) together with HTC (+0.4), while all the others have had sales shifting downward (Samsung by -0.3%, LG by -0.8%, and Motorola by -1.3%).

Top Smartphone Platforms

The U.S. market is witnessing the spectacular chase between iOS and Android. Google’s OS leads with 52.2%, up 1.4 points from the previous three months, while iOS was up 2 points to 33.4%. It was followed by RIM with 9.5% (down 2.1 points), Windows Phone is 4% (down 0.4 points), and Nokia’s Symbian, only 0.8% of the market.

For the first time since its launch, the iPhone lost the top position in the smartphone market in the hands of Galaxy S III.  This is the first time sales of a device produced by Samsung tops the Apple’s iPhone.  In June, the official launched of Galaxy S III upset the iPhone 4S to become the top-selling smartphone in the U.S.

The iPhone 4S is offered in the U.S. by AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and then expanded to other providers. Sales of the iPhone 4S have slowed not because of poor Apple products, but customers simply stopped buying the current version in anticipation for the next iPhone. The iPhone 5 is expected to unveil on September 12.

Mobile Content Usage

Another point to consider is the increasing adoption and use of internet on mobile devices. It is expected in the next three years, internet users will connect more through their mobile phones than through computers.

In the three months period ending July, 75.6% of U.S. mobile phone users were used text messaging services. It was followed by downloaded apps (52.6%), up by 2.4 % compared to previous three months, browser (51.2%), accessed to social networking site or blog (37.9%) and listened to music on mobile phones (28.3%).