Android has consolidated its position as the leading smartphone operating system in the US in the latest figures from comScore’s mobiLens service, reporting on key trends in the US mobile phone industry for the three-month average period to the end of November 2011, based on a survey of more than 30,000 mobile subscribers.

91.4m people in the US owned smartphones during the period, up 8 per cent on the previous three-month period. Android posted a 46.9 per cent market share, up 3.1 percentage points on the previous quarter. Apple remains in second place on 28.7 per cent, up 1.4 percentage points on the previous quarter. RIM is in third place on 16.6 per cent (down 3.1 percentage points), followed by Microsoft on 5.2 per cent (down 0.5 percentage points), and Symbian on 1.5 per cent, 0.3 percentage points down on the previous period.

Samsung remains the top handset manufacturer overall, with a 25.6 per cent market share, 0.3 percentage points up on the previous quarter. LG ranks second on 20.5 per cent (down 0.5 percentage points on the previous quarter), with Motorola in third on 13.7 per cent, 0.3 percentage points down on the previous quarter. Apple put on 1.4 percentage points to finish in fourth place with a market share of 11.2 per cent, with RIM in fifth place on 6.5 per cent, 0.6  percentage points down on the previous quarter. For the three-month average period ending in October, 234m Americans aged 13 and older used mobile devices.