Washington, Sep 2 (IANS) Up to 40 percent of mobile phone users in the US now own smartphones instead of other phones, a new survey said.

From May 11 to July 11, 40 percent of mobile phone users over 18 years in the US own smartphones like iPhone, Android devices and BlackBerry, Xinhua reported citing market research company Nielsen.

Android continued to gain market share, increasing by one percent over the last period to 40 percent. Apple’s iPhone stayed flat with 28 percent while BlackBerry dropped by one point to 19 percent of the US smartphone market.

Among potential buyers who said they are likely to get a new smartphone next year, around one third said they want to buy an iPhone and one third said Android.