Everything you need to know about mobile

The biggest OEMs, the most popular mobile operators, and the way subscribers use their phones

234 million Americans aged 13 and older were mobile subscribers for the three month period ending in April, according to a new comScore report. If you're wondering what phones they use, which service providers they're subscribed to, and what they use their phones for, look no further.

The biggest original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in the US is Samsung, with a 22.1% share of mobile subscribers (up 1% from the previous three month period). LG and Motorola are hardly far behind at all, with 21.8% and 21.6% shares of the market, respectively. RIM and Nokia come next with 8.4% and 8.1% shares.

Mobile operators did not budge much at all. Verizon is still on top, with 31.1% of mobile subscribers, followed by AT&T (25.2%), Sprint (12.0%), T-Mobile (12.0%), and Tracfone (5.1%).

In terms of usage of mobile content, more people are doing more with their phones, across the board. Of US mobile subscribers, 64.6% used text messaging, up 1.1% from the previous period. Higher-order actions rose even quicker: 31.1% of subscribers used a browser (up 2.5%), 29.8% used downloaded apps (up 3.1%), and 19.9% accessed social networking sites or blogs (up 2.8%). (These statistics align seamlessly with an earlier report from comScore on the rapidly expanding usage of social networking on mobile.)

Finally, 22.4% of mobile subscribers played games and 13.8% listened to music on their phones.

What does it mean when the ranking of OEMs and mobile operators doesn't change much, even while subscribers are doing more with their phones? It probably means that, for the most part, the former are doing their part to ensure that subscribers have phones equipped to do everything we expect them to do: access the mobile Web, play games, play music, and all the rest.