Apple gains in US smartphone market

Industry tracker comScore on Friday reported that Apple gained ground in the US smartphone market, nibbling into the lead held by handsets powered by Google's Android software. Apple's share of the US smartphone market climbed nearly three percent to 39 percent in the first three months of this year, making the California company the most popular handset maker in the country, according to comScore. The Android platform that Samsung, HTC, LG and other manufacturers use to power devices still reigned supreme, but its overall share of the US market slipped 1.4 percent to 54 percent, comScore reported. Smartphones powered by Microsoft Windows software rose a smidgen to three percent of the market, while the portion held by BlackBerry devices slipped more than a percent to 5.2 percent, according to comScore. South Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung remained the second most popular smartphone maker with 21.7 percent of the US market, followed by HTC, Motorola and LG with 9 percent, 8.5 percent, and 6.8 percent respectively. The number of US smartphone owners climbed nine percent to 136.7 during the quarter, comScore reported.