Market researchers toil away tirelessly compiling statistics, but often offer confusingly contradictory figures.  Such discrepancies were on display with a new study from Nielsen that offers a very favorable perspective on Apple's market position.

A previous study from NPD showed Google's Android OS beating the iPhone 28 percent to 21 percent in Q1 2010 unit sales.  Apple disputed those numbers.  A second study from Gartner also showed Android closing the gap with 9.6 percent of the global smartphone market, versus Apple's 15.4 percent.

Nielsen's report paints a far different picture.  It claims Apple has three times the market share of Google's smartphone operating system -- with 28 percent of the market versus 9 percent from Android.  The Nielsen study claims to report national smartphone numbers -- so U.S. only.  That's about the only possible explanation for the big discrepancy between it's claim of the smartphone ratio (3:1 in Apple's favor) versus Gartner's (3:2).

Nielsen also reports that Android is struggling with a familiar problem that faces many of Apple's foes -- the blind, unquestioning loyalty of its fans.  Despite hot Android handsets, perennial issues like Flash blocking, and Jobs's policing of "immoral" content (like pornography), 80 percent of iPhone users plan on buying another iPhone (only 7 percent plan to switch to Android).  That compares favorably to Android, which has only 70 percent of customers wanting to stay aboard and 14 percent looking to jump ship to Apple.

The report also indicates that Apple users on average are richer than Android users.  Approximately 40 percent of iPhone users make over $100,000 USD, while only 28 percent of Android users make that much.  Likewise, 36 percent of Android users make under $50,000 USD, while only 18 percent of iPhone users make that little.

Other than some interesting analysis about Apple and Google's current position, the new Nielsen study also offers insight into the growth of the smartphone market as a whole.  The study says that in three quarters -- from Q2 2009 to Q1 2010 -- the smartphone market grew from 16 percent of the total (national) phone market to 23 percent of the market.