MUMBAI: Smartphone penetration continued to grow during the second quarter of the year, with 54.9 per cent of US mobile subscribers owning smartphones as of 20 June.

This growth is driven by increasing smartphone purchases with two out of three Americans who acquired a new mobile phone in the last three months chose a smartphone instead of a feature phone.

Android continues to lead the smartphone market in the US, with a majority of smartphone owners (51.8 per cent) using an Android OS handset. Over a third (34.3 per cent) of smartphone owners use an Apple iPhone, and Blackberry owners represented another 8.1 per cent of the smartphone market.

Overall among smartphone owners, Apple had the highest manufacturer share of smartphone handsets. Among recent acquirers who obtained their smartphone during June 2012, 54 per cent said they chose an Android handset and 36 per cent bought an iPhone.