ANDROID UP, RIM DOWN, iOS FLAT IN JULY SMARTPHONE MARKET

According to Nielsen, Google’s Android platform gained once again during the three-month period ending in July, increasing it’s share by 1% over second-quarter totals to grab 40% of the U.S. smartphone market. Apple’s iOS stayed flat at 28% and RIM’s BlackBerry OS lost one point from June-quarter figures to fall to 19%. Windows Mobile and Windows Phone combined to take 8% of the market — with Windows Phone responsible for just 1% on its own — and the ghost of smartphone operating systems past is now buried somewhere in the “Other” category. Nielsen also notes that 40% of mobile phone users between May and July of this year owned smartphones, and Android topped iOS in the firm’s survey of which smartphone platform users intend to buy next. From “innovators” to “late adopters,” each consumer group Nielsen polled but one — “early adopters” — found Android to be the most appealing OS for their next purchases.