The battle of consumer smartphones continues to be a heated according to data just released by The Nielsen Company. But who is Winning the U.S. smartphone battle? The answer depends on whether you’re looking at operating systems or manufacturers.

When it comes to consumer marketshare by operating system, Android (29%) appears to be pulling ahead of RIM Blackberry (27%) and Apple iOS (27%), according to Nielsen's research. But an analysis by manufacturer shows RIM and Apple to be the winners compared to other device makers since they are the only ones creating and selling smartphones with their respective operating systems. HTC follows with 12 percent of consumer smartphone owners having an HTC Android device and 7 percent owning an HTC device running a Microsoft OS. Ten percent of consumer smartphone owners had a Motorola Android device and one percent owned a Motorola device running a Microsoft OS.



Finally, of the three most popular smartphone operating systems, Android seems to attract more young consumers, the research firm said.