comScore’s MobiLens service reported the key trends in the U.S.  mobile phone industry,  looking at a three-month period, ending July 2010.  The study looked at data from the preceding three months. The study showed a dramatic increase of Google Android’s popularity.  Anyone surprised?

There are 234 million Americans ages 13 years old and above using mobile phones as of July 2010. Of this 234 million, 53.4 million owns a smartphone. This figure has increased by 11 percent compared to the previous quarter. The leading platform for smartphone is RIM with 39.3% market share, followed by Apple with 23.8%.

Next in line is Google Android with a 17% market share, up by 5% compared to the previous three months. It has the most striking escalation of all top 5 platforms mentioned by comScore. Google Android was followed by Micrsoft and Palm at 11.8% and 4.9% respectively.

Google has taken some subscribers from other platforms but the increase was even-handed by smartphone market’s growth.  Still, Google Android just keep getting bigger.  It’s created a competitve landscape for others–even Apple.  The open-source platform has encouraged a range of devices, garnering partnerships from a number of manufacturers like Motorola, wanting to make smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

The platform space is still dominated by Nokia, however, on a global scale. Though Nokia has been losing ground, the company has made some recent changes to maintain its top position, including a new CEO and a new line of smartphones.  RIM is another competitor seeking to maintain its hold on the industry, while Microsoft hopes to steal some of Android’s thunder with some developer tools around integrated ads for Windows Phone 7.