SAN FRANCISCO, May 4 - Industry tracker comScore on Friday reported that Apple gained ground in the US smartphone market, nibbling into the lead held by handsets powered by Google's Android software.

Apple's share of the US smartphone market climbed nearly three percent to 39 percent in the first three months of this year, making the California company the most popular handset maker in the country, according to comScore.

The Android platform that Samsung, HTC, LG and other manufacturers use to power devices still reigned supreme, but its overall share of the US market slipped 1.4 percent to 54 percent, comScore reported.