More than one-half (55%) of US consumers who purchased a new handset in the three-month period ended May 2011 bought a smartphone instead of a feature phone, up from the 34% who did so during the same period one year earlier, according to a survey from Nielsen.

Overall, 38% of US consumers owned a smartphone as of May 2011, and 62% owned a feature phone.

Google Android continued to be the most popular smartphone operating system (OS) as of May, with 38% of smartphone consumers owning Android devices.

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Apple iOS Driving Smartphone Growth, Android Flat

Although Android OS leads among those who have recently purchased a new smartphone, Android's momentum has slowed since February 2011, giving way to Apple's iOS, which has registered the highest growth since February.

About the data: Findigns are from Nielsen’s May 2011 survey of mobile consumers in the US.