The operating system for Apple Inc.'s iPhone remains No. 1 among mobile device operating systems in the U.S., according to the latest survey by The Neilsen Co.
The report on operating systems being used between June and November showed Apple's iOS with 28.6 percent of the smartphone market, narrowly ahead of Research in Motion Ltd.'s Blackberry OS at 26.1 percent and Google Inc.'s Android at 25.8 percent.
Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) has seen a steep decline since June when it had 33 percent of the market and was No. 1.
Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android was the most popular with recent acquirers of smartphones, Neilsen said, being used on 40 percent of the smartphones bought during the survey period. Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) was on 26.9 percent and the Blackberry OS was on 19.2 percent.
Despite the shift in which operating system is No. 1 in market share, Neilsen reported that smartphones from all three continue to sell well.
"All three smartphone OS leaders – Apple iOS, RIM Blackberry and Android – are benefitting from strong demand for smartphones. In November, 45 percent of recent acquirers chose a smartphone over a feature phone," the report said.
Read more: iPhone OS tops Android, Blackberry | Dayton Business Journal
AT&T shares fall on prospect of Verizon iPhone Shares of AT&T Inc (T.N) fell 1.5 percent on Monday as investors bet that sales of an Apple Inc (AAPL.O) iPhone at its bigger rival Verizon Wireless would take away customers from AT&T.
Shares of AT&T, the No. 2 U.S. mobile service, fell 44 cents to $28.41 on New York Stock Exchange a day before the expected announcement of the end of AT&T's more than three years of exclusive U.S. rights to sell the popular Apple phone.
Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications (VZ.N) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L), will sell the iPhone under its existing wireless service plans, which include unlimited web surfing, a source told Reuters.
This year AT&T eliminated its unlimited wireless data plans. Pacific Crest analyst Steve Clement said Verizon iPhone sales, expected to kick off around the end of January, would translate to customer losses for AT&T and make it tough for AT&T to report any net customer additions for 2011.
However, Verizon Wireless could report as many as 2.5 million net new customers this year, Clement estimated. He noted that in the third quarter iPhone accounted for about 40 percent of AT&T's gross additions, which exclude customer cancellations or churn.
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