Google’s Android platform overtook Apple to become the second-largest smartphone OS in the US in the first quarter, according to new research by the NPD Group. The research firm’s latest market share figures – based on unit sales to consumers last quarter – saw the Android operating system move into second position at 28 percent behind Research In Motion’s BlackBerry OS (36 percent) and ahead of Apple’s OS (21 percent). The surge in Android-based smartphone sales is linked to a slew of new high-profile Android handsets such as Motorola’s Droid being offered in the US by Verizion Wireless. According to NPD’s figures, strong sales of the Droid, Droid Eris, and Blackberry Curve helped keep Verizon Wireless’s smartphone sales on par with rival AT&T in Q1. Smartphone sales at AT&T comprised nearly a third of the entire smartphone market (32 percent), followed by Verizon Wireless (30 percent), T-Mobile (17 percent) and Sprint (15 percent). “As in the past, carrier distribution and promotion have played a crucial role in determining smartphone market share,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD.

The research firm added that the popularity of messaging phones and smartphones resulted in slightly higher prices for all mobile phones, despite an overall drop in the number of mobile phones purchased in the first quarter. The average selling price for all mobile phones in Q1 reached US$88, a 5 percent increase from the year earlier quarter. Smartphone unit prices, by comparison, averaged US$151 in the quarter, down 3 percent over the previous year.