Android is the most desired smartphone platform in the US

Smartphones running Google's open source Android platform are now more popular than those running Apple's iOS according to consumers in the US.

Thirty-one percent of Americans looking to buy a smartphone in January - March 2011 said they wanted a device running Android, up from 26 percent in July - September 2010.

The percentage of iPhone-wanting customers has dropped from 33 percent during the same period.

Things are looking down for Research In Motion (RIM) too. In 2010 13 percent of Americans said they wanted a BlackBerry while in 2011 that figure dropped to just 11 percent.

The number of people who are unsure about which operating system (OS) they should choose for their next (or first) smartphone has risen from 18 to 20 percent.

"Those dynamics are already translating into sales," said market researcher Nielsen in a study released on April 26.

"Half of those surveyed in March 2011 who indicated they had purchased a smartphone in the past six months said they had chosen an Android device. A quarter of recent acquirers said they bought an iPhone and 15 percent said they had picked a Blackberry phone."

An additional 7 percent of recent smartphone acquirers purchased a Windows Phone 7 or Windows Mobile smartphone, 2 percent bought a phone running on Palm/Web OS and an additional 1 percent opted for a smartphone running Nokia’s Symbian OS.

According to Nielsen’s March 2011 figures, the installed user base of smartphone consumers with a device running Android OS is 37 percent. Apple's iOS is in second place with 27 percent of the market, RIM’s BlackBerry OS follows in third place with 22 percent and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and WP7 platform is in fourth place with 10 percent of the US smartphone market.

Three percent of smartphone users in the US have a device running Palm/WebOS and 2 percent have a smartphone running Symbian OS.