Google's open-source Android operating system widened its lead on Apple's iPhone in the United States smartphone market, figures released by market research firm comScore claims.

As per comScore, the number of smartphone owners in the United States jumped 60 per cent to a total of 63.2 million owners in the final three months of 2010, as compared with the corresponding period of previous year.

Google's Android grabbed the number 2 spot, with an increase of 7.3 per cent in market share, from 21.4 per cent in the third quarter to 28.7 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, Apple could manage to grow by merely 0.7 per cent, from 24.3 per cent in the September quarter to a 25 per cent in December 2010.

Canadian manufacturer RIM suffered a fall in its smartphone market share, from 37.3 per cent in September to 31.6 per cent in December last year. However, RIM is still at the top spot.

Declining sales of Blackberry smartphones in the US have forced RIM to shift focus from the US to international markets.

Microsoft's mobile operating system also suffered a fall in its market share, from 9.9 per cent in September to 8.4 per cent in December 2010. Palm also saw its market share slipping from 4.2 per cent to 3.7 per cent during the same period.