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Apple's iOS market share tops Android, RIM

iOS is leading Google's Android and RIM's BlackBerry operating system in U.S. market share, but Nielsen says the race may be to close to call.

Jim Dalrymple Special to CNET News
Jim Dalrymple has followed Apple and the Mac industry for the last 15 years, first as part of MacCentral and then in various positions at Macworld. Jim also writes about the professional audio market, examining the best ways to record music using a Macintosh. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. He currently runs The Loop.
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Jim Dalrymple

Google's Android mobile operating system may be surging, but it hasn't overtaken Apple's iOS in the U.S., according to a Nielsen report released today.

Using November data, market research firm Nielsen on Monday ranked Apple's iOS as the No. 1 mobile operating with 28.6 percent of the smartphone operating system market share in the U.S. Coming in at No. 3 is Google's Android with 25.8 percent share of the U.S. market.

What's really interesting is that RIM's BlackBerry operating system, which is the No. 2 ranked mobile operating system in the U.S. by market share with 26.1 percent, is within the margin of error of both Apple iOS and Android.

"In other words, RIM remains statistically tied with both Apple for first and Android for third," writes Nielsen. "Apple's clear lead over Android notwithstanding, this race might still be too close to call."

Mobile operating system market share
Nielsen

The popularity of Android is clear though. Among those consumers who purchased a smartphone in the last six months, 40 percent chose the Android OS.

Overall, 45 percent of consumers in November chose a smartphone over a regular cell phone, according to Nielsen.