comScore has released its latest report on the mobile market, Android: Crashing the Smartphone Party. The report provides an overview of the current US mobile environment and offers an in-depth look at how the Android operating system is impacting the market. Among the reports key findings is that consumer awareness of Googles Android is growing rapidly, due in large part to the Verizon Droid ad campaign. Further, of those American consumers in the market for a Smartphone, 17% are considering the purchase of an android-supported device in next three months, compared to 20% indicating that they plan to buy an iPhone.
With handsets on multiple carriers, from multiple manufacturers, and numerous Android device models expected to be in the US market by January, the Android platform is rapidly shaking up the Smartphone market, says Mark Donovan, Senior Vice President of Mobile at comScore. While iPhone continues to set the bar with its App Store and passionate user base, and RIM remains the leader among the business set, Android is clearly gaining momentum among developers and consumers.
comScore notes that although Androids share of the Smartphone market is relatively small, it has quickly doubled in the past year to 3.5% in October 2009. Understanding the mobile media behaviour of Android users highlights why operators and media companies might embrace the platform and fuel its growth, the company says. An analysis of mobile media consumption on Smartphones reveals that users of both Apple and Android-supported devices were more likely to engage with mobile media than an average Smartphone user. iPhone users were most likely to consume mobile media, with 94% of users doing so in September 2009, while 92% of Android device users, predominantly T-Mobile G1 users, engaged in mobile media activities, 12 percentage points higher than an average Smartphone user.
Apple and Android users were equally likely to engage with news via their browser and were almost identical in their mobile application engagement. Email was the only major activity in which iPhone users (87%) were far more likely to participate than Android users (6%). Overall, the data suggests that Android users will behave more like iPhone users than other Smartphone users.
Googles Android platform has continued to gain awareness among US consumers. In August 2009, just 22% of mobile users had heard of the Android, while in November 2009 this figure had reached 37%, largely prompted by the Verizon Droid ad campaign launched in the fall. The comScore study found that not only is general awareness increasing about Android, but intent to purchase an Android-supported device is also increasing among mobile phone users.
When mobile users were asked in November which phone they planned to buy in the next three months, 17% of respondents in the market for a new Smartphone said they planned to buy an Android-supported device, with 8% of those planning to buy a Verizon Droid, compared to 20% of respondents who said they planned to buy an iPhone during the same period. In comparison, when survey respondents answered this same question in August 2009, only 7% indicated an intent to buy either the T-Mobile G1 or the T-Mobile MyTouch – the only Android-supported phones available at the time – while 21% of respondents planned to buy an iPhone in the next three months. 
Theres more information about the report here.