Android loses some US market share but remains top dog

Android lost a tiny bit of ground in US market share this summer but still remained way ahead of Apple's iOS, according to a ComScore report released Friday.

The latest report from the research firm pegged Google's operating system for mobile devices with a 51.5 percent share of the US market for the three months ending with July, down slightly from 52.5 percent for the prior three months. Over the same period, iOS's market share inched up to 42.4 percent from 41.4 percent, ComScore said.

Collectively, Android and iOS run the bulk of smartphones, with a 93.9 percent share of that market, but Android has held the crown for the past few years. Such Android vendors as Samsung, LG and Motorola introduce on a regular basis new phones that, with features the iPhone lacks, can catch the interest of consumers. As one example, consumers have gone crazy for big-screened smartphones, which are readily available in the Android world. Apple's iPhone is still stuck with a 4-inch screen. Reports say Apple will introduce two new iPhone 6 models this month -- one with a 4.7-inch display, the other with a 5.5-incher. Assuming both phones hit the market, could Apple regain enough market share to catch up with Android?

Among other smartphone OSes, Microsoft's Windows Phone eked out a 3.6 market share during the three months ending with July, up from 3.3 percent the prior three months. BlackBerry lost ground with a share of 2.3 percent, down from 2.5 percent.

Looking at smartphone manufacturers, ComScore put Apple in first place with its 42.4 percent market share. Samsung took second place with a share of 28.4 percent, up from 27.7 percent. That left LG with 6.4 percent, Motorola with 5.7 percent and HTC with 4.7 percent.

Overall, 173 million people in the US owned smartphones during the three months ending with July, a 3 percent gain from the prior three months, ComScore reported.