Android continues to gain traction in RIM and Microsoft's corporate neighborhood, a new market research report suggests.

Last year, Apple was worried about Android. This year, RIM and Microsoft are worried about Android. Mobile professionals are literally flocking to Android, and the reasons for doing so are growing every month. Google has somehow managed to trick people into believing that high-end smartphone solutions are what should be preferred in order to stay productive while on the go.

ComScore recently found that 65.8 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in January 2010, up 8% from the preceding three-month period. Android for the first time ranks as #1 with a 31.2% market share. It's not all bad news for RIM though, as the company still has a 30.4% market share, followed by Apple (24.7%), Microsoft (8%) and Palm (3.2%). 


There's no doubt that RIM has big plans to fight back against Android, and a recent document (according to N4BB) suggested that the company will announce BlackBerry 7 in Q4 2011. This version will obviously build on the rumored BlackBerry 6.1, and we guess the most powerfulBlackBerry 6.1 phones will shine with BlackBerry 7.

These phones will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets - which can only be described as a big step forward for BlackBerry phones. The first RIM product to utilize Snapdragon technology is the upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook however. The Wi-Fi model is rumored to be released on April 10 (according to BGR), with 4G models to follow later this year.

Microsoft is busy fighting back too, and will release the HTC Arrive on Sprint later this month. Windows Phone 7 doesn't support 4G Mobile WiMAX though, while all Sprint subscribers are paying for such connectivity. It goes without saying that Microsoft would have picked up U.S. network trends earlier if they had closer relations with Sprint and Verizon Wireless.

Palm, which didn't release a new smartphone until just recently (check out our review of the Palm Pre 2 for Verizon Wireless here), is seeing a slight decline in their market share. The upcoming HP Pre 3 is a smartphone targeting mobile professionals to be released this summer, however, so we imagine WebOS isn't dead yet. Palm seems to have missed the first 4G train too though.

Then there's Apple, the company that tends to carve out its own market. Reports last year suggested that Apple's iPhone 4 was especially a popular business phone, and we guess the recently released Verizon iPhone and upcoming iPhone 5 will help the company maintain a market position around 25%.

ComScore's Smartphone Market Share Data