Apple iOS, Android Hottest Platforms for 2011

Apple’s iPhone and smartphones based on RIM’s BlackBerry operating system are tied with 27 percent of U.S. smartphone market share, according to October data from the Nielsen Company.

Google’s Android operating system commands 22.7 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, Nielsen reported from a survey of 4,900 users.

However, mobile-phone users who are upgrading to a smartphone next year indicated that Apple’s iOS and the Android operating system were their most likely choices.

Some 35 percent of current smartphone owners said they would pick an iPhone, while 28 percent of smartphone and feature-phone owners said an Android handset was on their wish list.

Thirteen percent of smartphone users said they were not sure what device they wanted, while 15 percent would pick a RIM Blackberry model.

While RIM remains in a statistical tie with Apple, the trend toward Apple iOS and Google Android handsets can only be disheartening for the BlackBerry maker, which has long enjoyed 40 percent-plus market share in the U.S.

For more, read the eWeek article: Apple iOS, Android Are Most Desired Platforms in 2011.