Given the hype that surrounds the most recent iPhone launch, Comscore’s latest market share numbers surely come as a surprise. The company found that Apple, RIM, Microsoft and Palm have lost market share in the three month period ending in May. Google was the only platform that gained – by more than 44%.

Android has established itself as a major force in eth U.S. smartphone market and it would be foolish to dismiss Google for any reason as a platform that isn’t capable of competing. Comscore’s latest numbers wipe any doubt about Google’s strength off the table.

Of the 49.1 million smartphones that were registered at the end of May, 41.7% were Blackberrys, 24.4% were iPhones, 13.2% were based on Windows Mobile, 13.0% were Android devices and 4.8% were Palm phones. What makes these numbers interesting is the fact that Blackberry share dropped by 0.4 points since February, iPhone share dropped by 1.0 points, Windows lost 1.9 points and Palm lost 0.6 points. Google’s Android gained a whopping 4.0 points.

To be fair, it should be said these numbers do not include the recently launched iPhone 4, which may claim back share for Apple.

Overall, there were 234 million cellphones in use at the end of May. Samsung holds the largest share with 22.4% (up 1.0 points from February), LG with 21.5% (-0.2 points), Motorola with 21.2% (-1.1 points), RIM with 8.7% (+0.5 points) and Nokia with 8.1% (-0.6 points).

In unrelated news, the Pew Internet & American Life Project today reported that 38% of U.S. Americans now use their cellphone to go on the Internet, up from 25% one year ago. 72% of cellphone owners have used their phone for texting, 34% for email, 30% for instant messaging and 23% for social networking.

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