Samsung was the top handset maker in the U.S. for the three month period ending in November, accounting for 24.5 percent of the market, while RIM led among smartphones with 33.5 percent market share, according to comScore.

For the three month average period ending in November, 234 million Americans ages 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top  mobile manufacturer with 24.5 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, up 0.9 percentage points from the three month period ending in August. LG ranked second with 20.9 percent share, followed by Motorola (17.0 percent), RIM (8.8 percent) and Nokia (7.2 percent).

In the U.S. 61.5 million people owned smartphones during the three months ending in November, up 10 percent from the preceding three-month period, as RIM led with 33.5 percent market share of smartphones. After several months of strong growth, Google Android captured the #2 ranking among smartphone platforms in November with 26.0 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers. Apple accounted for 25.0 percent of smartphone subscribers (up 0.8 percentage points), followed by Microsoft with 9.0 percent and Palm with 3.9 percent.

In November, 67.1 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 0.5 percentage points versus the prior three month period, while browsers were used by 35.3 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 0.8 percentage points). Subscribers who used downloaded applications comprised 33.4 percent of the mobile audience, representing an increase of 1.1 percentage points. Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 1.0 percentage points, representing 23.5 percent of mobile subscribers. Playing games attracted 22.6 percent of the mobile audience while listening to music attracted 15.0 percent.