When last we checked in with Nielsen earlier this month, Google’s mobile OS had a sizable lead, powering just under 42-percent of smartphones sold, while Apple had cornered a more than respectable 28-percent of the market.

In the few short weeks since, Android has seen its share grow to 43-percent. More interestingly, of the over 25,500 surveyed who had purchased a smartphone in the last three months, a whopping 56-percent chose to go with the Google. Apple held a steady 28-percent across the board.

Big G’s gains came at the expense of RIM (only 9-percent of phones sold in the last three months were BlackBerries) and the ambiguous “other” (Symbian, Windows Phone 7, Bada, MeeGo, etc… accounted for 6-percent of sales). More important than choice of platform though, is that smartphone sales in general are climbing — accounting for 58-percent of all handsets sold in August and driving smartphone penetration to 43-percent.

Well, things will surely change beginning next week when Apple unveils their next generation iPhone.

SOURCE via Nielsen