Apple gains users, but Samsung still the mobile-phone leader

Apple scored the greatest gain in market share among cell phone makers last quarter but was stuck in third place behind Samsung and LG.

Looking at the three months ending with June, ComScore pegged Apple with a 15.4 percent share of the U.S. mobile-phone market, up from 14 percent the prior three months. Such growth surpassed that of the other top three players, each of which saw a dip in market share.

Samsung's chunk of the market fell to 25.6 percent from 26 percent, but the company remained the dominant player. In second place was LG with an 18.8 percent share, down from 19.3 percent the prior three months.

Over the same period, Motorola took home an 11.7 percent share, down from 12.8 percent. Though in fifth place, HTC eked out a small gain with a share of 6.4 percent, up from 6 percent. Overall, 234 million Americans age 13 and older were users of mobile phones for the quarter.

Samsung has seen huge demand for its Galaxy-class phones. But with a new iPhone reportedly on the way this September, Apple is likely to shake things up in the third and fourth quarters, giving Samsung a heavier dose of competition.

Looking at mobile operating systems, Google's Android was in top place as usual with a 51.6 percent slice of the market. That left Apple's iOS in second place with a 32.4 percent share. Again, Apple scored the biggest growth in market share from the prior three months, though Android also squeezed out a small gain.

The remaining three players in the top five all saw declines in market share. RIM's BlackBerry OS took third place with a 10.7 percent share, followed by Microsoft's Windows Phone with 3.8 percent, and Nokia's Symbian with less than 1 percent.

More than 110 million consumers in the U.S. owned smartphones during the June quarter, a 4 percent rise over the prior three months.

Relying on data from its MobiLens service, the ComScore report includes results from more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers.