How popular are smartphones these days? According to the latest Nielsen data 56 percent of those purchasing a new mobile phone bought within the past three months went with a smartphone. A total of 44 percent of US mobile users own smartphones. While smart devices continue to trend upwards, Android remains the forerunner in market share with a dominant 42.8 percent divided up between its various manufacturers. Apple trails in second place with 28.3 percent of the market.

It will be difficult for a single device manufacturer such as Apple to catch up to Android at this point, especially as Google’s OS penetrates more and more into low-cost device sales, eating away at the feature phone market. It becomes even more difficult for platforms such as RIM’s BlackBerry and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 to stake any strong claim.

[via Nielsen]