Android tops U.S. smartphone sales, but iOS catching up

Apple's iOS continues to play catch up with Android in the U.S. smartphone game.

For the three months ending in June, Android scored 51.5 percent of all U.S. smartphone sales, research firm Kantar Worldpanel said Monday. That number was a slight drop from the 52.6 percent seen for the same period in 2012.

iOS trailed with 42.5 percent of all smartphone sales. But that figure showed a gain from the 39.2 percent share over the same period last year.

Microsoft's Windows Phone also captured a larger chunk of sales, winning a 4 percent share compared with 2.9 percent a year ago. BlackBerry didn't fare as well, watching its slice of sales drop to 1.1 percent from 4 percent last year.

Apple scored 40 percent of its smartphone sales from Verizon Wireless, 39 percent from AT&T, 10 percent from Sprint, and 8 percent from T-Mobile. Verizon also did well selling Android and Windows Phone handsets, according to Kantar. Android snared 35 percent of its sales from Verizon, 17 percent from Sprint, 16 percent from AT&T, and 13 percent from T-Mobile.

The data comes from Kantar's USA consumer panel, which conducts more than 240,000 interviews per year with mobile phone users. The information specifically highlights smartphone sales rather than market share.