Athima Chansanchai of MSNBC wrote about a recently-released Nielsen study showing an absolute explosion of iPhone growth in the past three months. Here's the face-melting part:

Results from a recent Nielsen survey show that amongst buyers who purchased a new device within the last three months, 44.5 said they bought an iPhone. In October, that number was 25.1 percent. 

Think about that for a minute. Google may or may not have a monopoly, and may or may not be unlawfully restricting competition, but one thing is clear: Apple looks well on its way to a good old fashioned "people-like-us-more-than-everyone-else-in-the-market" natural monopoly.

Image via Apple.com