Android Sales Plateau as iPhone Surges

Is Androids heyday over?

The operating system, which has shown few flaws as its dominated smartphone market share in the U.S. over the past several months, appears to have stalled, according to the latest numbers from Nielsen.

While Android still leads the pack with 38 percent market share, its Apples iPhone that has grown the most in the past few months, rising to 27 percent. RIMs BlackBerry continues to fade, falling to 21 percent.

Will Apples share continue to rise? Some of the computer giants surge has to be attributed to its deal with Verizon Wireless that broke up an exclusive agreement with AT&T. In its earnings call in April, Verizon said it had sold 2.2 million iPhones in Q1.

The Nielsen survey also shows how more and more Americans are leaving feature phones behind for smartphones. Fifty-five percent of people surveyed who bought a cell phone between March 11 and May 11 reported purchasing a smartphone. That number was just 34 percent during the same period last year.

There are a number of highly anticipated Android-based phones slated to be released later this summer and in Q3, while the next-generation iPhone is rumored to be ready in September. So this landscape might change quite a bit again in the coming months.