According to a recently-released report, the consumers in the United States bought 38 million handsets, for which they paid a total of $3.2 billion.

Marching ahead of the pack were the smartphones, which accounted for 11% of the sales made during the quarter. During the third quarter of 2006 they only accounted for a mere 4%. Also, the smartphone segment of the market was credited with a 163% increase year over year.

The study notes that 72% of all cellphones sold in the third quarter integrated Bluetooth capability and 50% were able to playback digital music.

Although Nokia is the world-wide consumer favorite, the US market has chosen another company to lead the sales chars. Motorola holds 31% in its corporate grasp, followed by LG and Samsung with 17% and 16%, respectively. Nokia is down on the fourth place with 11% and Sanyo finishes last in the race with only 4%.