Apple scored significant legal wins last week but the start of the fresh week saw the firm lagging behind its fierce competitors, Google and Samsung, in terms of market dominance in the lucrative U.S. market.

According to the latest ComScore MobiLens report, Google's Android platform has maintained its lead over Apple's iOS as it registered market shares of 50.9 per cent as of the end of May 2011.

The Google operating system, ComScore said, collected 0.8 per cent of new footholds in the smartphone zone to keep Apple on its tail end, which in turn posted 31.9 per cent of market shares in America.

Yet, while Android still leads by almost 20 points, analysts noted that Apple mustered notable gains in the three-month period covered by the ComScore research, its 1.7 per cent surge in the period reflecting the most significant jump for any mobile device platform.

The rest of the shares were distributed among Research in Motion (RIM), Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 and Nokia's Symbian, whose present softwares were either undergoing revamps or will be retired soon.

Microsoft and Nokia will be joining forces to manufacture smartphones that run on Windows 8, which is set to hit the global market later this year, while RIM appears to be grappling on what to do next following its steady decline in the past few years.

It seemed ages since the BlackBerry was regarded by global consumers as the gadget to flaunt (it was only five years ago, in fact) but as far as U.S. consumers were concerned, the top three smartphone brands these days are the following: Samsung, LG and Apple.

ComScore said on Monday that by the end of May this year, 25.7 per cent of an estimated 30,000 smartphone owners in the United States own Samsung devices, presumably majority of which belong to the South Korean's flagship Galaxy product lines.

Apple's iPhone only accounted for 15 per cent share of the market but underneath the figures were tens of millions of handsets actually sold and probably provided higher profits for the American firm as its rivals also sell affordable units while Apple limited its offerings to the pricey iPhone, which comes in various configurations carried by a uniform shell, either in shiny black or glimmering white.

PC Magazine said that as majority of smartphone owners in the U.S. were teenagers, they gravitate towards the cheaper but equally capable units, which explain Samsung's and LG's lead, the latter garnering 19.5 per cent of market share in the same period.

But a recent study also suggested that Samsung's banner smartphone model, the Galaxy S series, the latest of which, the S3, recently debuted in key markets around the world, was fast catching up with the iPhone 4S as the top brand preferred by moneyed consumers.

It remains to be seen though if Samsung would be able to sustain its spirited climb as Apple is expected to release the much anticipated iPhone 5 by October this year.

Market watchers also noted that Samsung's rise could be hampered by the legal battles that Apple has been pursuing against the Asian tech titan, which last week saw the issuance of pre-trial injunctions against two of its major devices - the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy Nexus.

Apple is expected to keep up the pressure on what it calls as copied products from its competitors as it rolls out measures to maintain the lead it currently enjoys in the overall mobile market war.

The tech world may be witnessing close combat contacts in the smartphone segment but in the tablet spar, the iPad remains the global top choice.

PC Magazine reported on Monday that Apple's tablet computer had secured more than 65 per cent of market share as of the end of June, quoting data from Net Applications, leaving too far behind its Android-powered rivals.