ComScore (www.comscore.com), a company that "measures the digital world," has released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending October 2012.

The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 26.3 % market share. Google Android continued to lead among smartphone platforms, accounting for 53.6% of smartphone subscribers, while Apple secured 34.3%.

For the three-month average period ending in October, device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM [original equipment manufacturer] with 26.3% of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 0.7 percentage points). Apple ranked second for the first time on record with 17.8% market share (up 1.5 percentage points), followed by LG with 17.6% share, Motorola with 11% and HTC with 6%.

Approximately 121.3 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (51.9% mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in October, up 6% since July. Google Android ranked as the top smartphone platform with 53.6% market share (up 1.4 percentage points), while Apple’s share increased 0.9 percentage points to 34.3%. RIM ranked third with 7.8 percent share, followed by Microsoft (3.2%) and Symbian (0.6%).