The Live Indian Entertainment Blog

On Monday, market research firm comScore released the state of the U.S. mobile phone market, in a three month period from Nov. 2009 to Feb. 2010, and one trend continues to be clear. Android continues to surge among smartphone platforms.

While still in fourth place, more than doubled its market share over those three months. Google's Android platform went from 3.8 percent in Nov. 2009 to 9 percent in Feb. 2010. Likely, much of that can be attributed to the Motorola Droid, the most successful Android device to date.

Meanwhile, RIM (1) and Apple (2) still dominate the report. RIM rose 1.3 percent, while Apple actually dropped by 0.1 percent. However, the big losers were Microsoft, down 4 percent to 15.1 percent. Palm also showed a drop, down 1.8 percent.

In 2009, Gartner predicted that the sheer force of the multiple OEMs and devices carrying Android would lead to the OS overtaking the iPhone by 2012. At the time, Gartner VP Ken Dulaney said that many handset manufacturers are betting their futures on Android, while Apple is just one company.

There is that, and also the fact that Android devices come in multiple form factors and configurations. The openness of the OS and the lack of a draconian approval process for the Android Market vs. the App Store process may also resonate with the more technie smartphone user; many iPhone users will probably never know what they are missing as a result of Apple keeping the OS so closed.