Samsung, Android are winners

The Android operating system, which has shot into first places among US smart phone users, and Samsung, which increased on its lead as the number one overall phone manufacturer in the US, are big winners in the mobile world during the three month period ending at the end of January, 2011 according to the latest numbers from comScore, which tracks the industry.

The numbers will doubtlessly start to change significantly with the launching of the Apple IPhone on Verizon last month.

But as of January, Android was being used by 31.2% of all phone users (up from 23.5% just three months earlier), while Rim (Blackberry Operating System) users had dropped from 35.8% three months earlier to 30.4% in January. The Apple IPhone operating system was relatively flat at 24.7% in January.

Samsung phones still lead the pack of phone manufacturers by a wide distance, with everyone else losing share accept the IPhone which should so significant gains in coming months because it will now, for the first time, be available on multiple networks.

In other findings, comScore noted the continued growth in usage of phones advanced features. Increasingly in January, phones were shown to be used to access social networks, apps and music.