Google's Android OS Outselling iPhone in U.S.

The Android OS continues to grow in popularity, and last quarter moved past Apple's iPhone OS to take the No. 2 position among smartphone operating systems in the United States for the first time, according to market research firm The NPD Group.

Both companies continue to trail sales of RIM's BlackBerry OS, though, which has a 36% market share. Google's operating system covered 28% of the U.S. smartphone market in the first quarter of the year, while the iPhone covered 21%.

Much of the growth in Android OS sales came from Verizon's Motorola Droid and HTC Droid Eris.

Sales of the Apple iPhone, an AT&T exclusive, were strong enough to give the carrier 32% of U.S. smartphone sales, followed by Verizon Wireless (30%), T-Mobile (17%) and Sprint (15%), according to NPD.

The average selling price for all smartphones in Q1 was $151, a 3% decrease over the previous year.

Source: NPD