Nielsen's smartphone numbers show a lot of interesting and often unexpected findings in demographics.

(Though not sales--iPhone's still drastically outselling everyone but BlackBerry in the States.) Despite the hypermasculine branding of the country's most popular Android phone (the Motorola Droid) which was expected to appeal mostly to young men, the gender split is about equal among Android and iPhone users. In fact, while both platforms skew male, Android is slightly more female-heavy than iPhone.

Another survey asks respondents to list their next desired handset. 80% of iPhone users want their next phone to be an iPhone, while only 70% of Android users will stick with Android. And many more Android users are interested in iPhone than vice versa.

Nielsen also tried to measure what folks are actually doing with their smartphones, and found that Android users have a wider array of uses for their phones than iPhone users. iPhone users download more apps, games, and music, but Android users seem to be more active in most other categories, including mobile internet, video, customization, and GPS services. That may change as both platforms mature--Android has a music streaming service coming up in a release or two, and once the iPhone can multitask, more iPhoners might use instant messaging or stream music.

Original article by Dan Nosowitz @ Fast Company.