Android, iOS and BlackBerry tied in US, but Google's OS set to edge ahead

Anyone who keeps a check on Nielsen's assessment of the US smartphone market will be aware that, as of July, Android has been snapping up the majority of new users.

Back at the start of January, Nielsen claimed just under 41 percent of smartphone purchases were Android handsets.

The firm's latest stats suggests that share has increased further since, with Android accounting for 43 percent of all smartphone sales.

Gaining Google

With iOS accounting for 26 percent of all new sales in comparison, Nielsen's numbers suggest Android is set to pull ahead by some distance in the months to come.

Google's OS is technically the joint third biggest platform in the US, but it's fast making up ground.

In truth, all three major platforms iOS, BlackBerry and Android hold almost identical userbase share at the top of the table.

Awkward three-wayNielsen's figures suggest Apple has a 28 percent of the US smartphone market, with Google and RIM both just 1 percentage point behind the market leader.

"The competition between smartphone operating systems is a heated one," the firm says in a blog post.

"When it comes to the installed base...it is a three-way tie between Blackberry RIM, the smartphone pioneer, Apple's iOS, which revolutionised the smartphone and popularised mobile apps, and Android OS, the operating system created by Google which has been taking the market by storm."

[source: Nielsen]