Mobile phone users are getting smarter. Fifty-five percent of U.S. consumers who purchased a mobile phone in the last three months purchased a smart phone, up from just 34 percent a year ago, according to data released yesterday by Nielsen.

Currently, 38 percent of all mobile consumers own smart phones. The data was collected over a two-month period from March through May.

Android continued to be the highest-selling smart phone, with a 38 percent market share. Apple's iPhone was next at 27 percent, and BlackBerry was third at 21 percent. But Apple saw the most growth in new purchases during the two-month period, rising from a 10 percent market share to 17 percent. Android's share remained flat at 27 percent.

Information Week hypothesized that the increase in Apple sales was due to two factors. First, the company made the iPhone available on the Verizon network in early February; and second, it made the iPhone available in white for the first time.

Check out Consumer Reports' smart phone Ratings (available to subscribers) to find out how the latest models performed in our tests.

In U.S., smartphones now majority of cell phone purchases [Nielsen]
Smart phones outsell feature phones for the first time [Information Week]