A new study has revealed that 38 percent of mobile consumers in the US now own a smartphone.

According to a May study conducted by market research firm Nielson, around 55 percent of the consumers who purchased a mobile phone in the past three month purchased a smartphone instead of a feature phone, an increase of 34 from percent a year ago.

Google’s Android platform is starting to dominate the smartphone market with a 38 percent share; it was the most popular platform among newly purchased smartphones in the last three months.

However, Nielson says that while Android was the platform of choice for recent buyers, its growth has flattened somewhat.

“Android continues to be the most popular smartphone operating system, with 38 percent of smartphone consumers owning Android devices. However, while Android also leads among those who recently purchased a new smartphone, it is the Apple iPhone that has shown the most growth in recent months,” Nielson reports.

All in all, Apple iOS follows Android with a 27 percent smartphone market share while Research in Motion’s BlackBerry slid down to 21 percent. Windows Mobile was in the fourth spot with a 9 percent share while Windows Phone 7 had just a 1 percent market share.