Android's US smartphone share is nearly 50 per cent

While RIM's falls to under 20 per cent.

ComScore's latest research says Android and Apple are still dominating the lead among smartphone users as their rivals lose share.

Android grew its share from from 41.9 per cent to 46.3 per cent from the quarter ending July to the quarter ending, according to the report.

That, combined with Apple's growth of one per cent to 28.1 per cent has dented RIM's share pushing it down to 17.2 per cent, losing 4.5 per cent.

With Apple's introduction of the iPhone 4S back in October, it's plausible the figures will change over the next quarter following rapid sales despite negativity from analysts.

Microsoft will also be watching carefully, as the share held by its Windows OS was largely static (5.7 per cent to 5.4 per cent). It launched with Nokia this quarter, although to be fair Americans historically ignore Nokia devices so the impact will be greater in Europe.