It’s a new milestone for smartphone penetration in the United States, according to the latest statistics on smartphone usage released by Nielsen.

40% of mobile consumers over 18 in the United States now have smartphones, according to July 2011 data. And Nielsen stats show that this swelling percentage is, indeed, continuing to grow on a day-by-day basis.

Android is the most popular operating system for now, with 40 percent of mobile consumers reporting they have a smartphone with an Android OS. Apple’s iOS is in second place, with 28 percent. Among those who say they are likely to get a new smartphone in the next year, approximately one third say they want their next smartphone to be an iPhone and one third say they want an Android device.

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On Monday, Samsung Electronics announced the launch of ChatON, a free mobile communication service that allows users to communicate directly and immediately with any mobile phone.

ChatON is billed as Samsung’s global mobile communication service that works across all major smartphone and feature phone platforms.

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Based on the latest estimates put forward by Ovum, the mobile apps market for feature phones is on pace to double by 2016, reaching revenues of $1 billion in the process.

According to Ovum, the feature phone apps market has been spurred on by the success of apps in the smartphone sector.

In the report published Tuesday, the independent telecoms analyst claims that “while the feature phone apps market has not taken off in the same way as its smartphone counterpart, it is beginning to take strides forward.”

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Millennial Media has published its latest Mobile Mix Report for June, indicating that Windows Phone 7 and RIM are showing impressive growth in terms of mobile ad impressions – growing 31% and 29% respectively.

While Microsoft and RIM are showing improvement, Apple and Android remain the clear winners according to the report.  Apple continued to be the leading device manufacturer on Millennial’s network, representing 30% of the “Top 15 Manufacturers” impression share.  Likewise, the iPhone maintained the number one position on the “Top 20 Mobile Phones” list, with 16% of total impressions on Millennial’s network.

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In what amounts to another major milestone for the smartphone industry, the latest report from Nielsen shows that smartphone purchases now comprise the majority of all new smartphone purchases in the US.

Nielsen’s May survey of US mobile consumers shows that 38% now own smartphones. Noting substantial double-digit growth in purchase rates, Nielsen finds that Apple’s iOS is leading the demand for smartphone purchases while Android (still most popular) is now “flat.” RIM, meanwhile, continues to lose ground.

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In Gartner’s latest mobile market report, the research firm indicated that over 428 million mobile devices were sold in Q1 of this year, representing a solid 19% year-over-year increase.

As usual, the growth is attributed to the continued spike in smartphone sales– which Gartner pegs at 100.7 million for Q1, up 85% year-over-year.  Android remained the top dog, which soared past Symbian to capture 36% of the market.  Nokia’s Symbian is in second place with 27.4%, followed by Apple’s iOS with 16.8%, RIM’s BlackBerry with 12.9% and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 with 3.6%.

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Mobile advertising provider InMobi has published its latest “Mobile Insights Report: North American and Global Editions” for April 2011 in which it indicates — according to their network statistics — that the mobile advertising market in North America has grown by 17% in the last three months alone.  The growth stands at 11% globally.

The company says its mobile ad network reaches 314 million consumers worldwide and serves over 35 billion monthly mobile ad impressions.  Attributing much of the growth to smartphone adoption — which the company said grew 20% globally or 2.3 billion monthly impressions, InMobi is now serving over 900 million monthly impressions per month in North America alone.

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