In the U.S., 33 million phones were sold in the second quarter for a total of $2.4 billion, according to The NPD Group. And there were a few interesting things to note.

The 33 million represents a 17 percent decline from the previous quarter, but a drop in that period is typical because of seasonality.

Here are a few things to note:

-- Sales increased 14 percent compared with the same time a year ago. Perhaps that's because people are paying more for their phones. Still, a plurality of phones -- 28 percent -- were free. NPD said another 28 percent cost less than $50; 11 percent cost more than $150; and 4 percent were more than $250.

-- The top five handset manufacturers are the same: Motorola at 32 percent; Samsung 18 percent; LG 17 percent; Nokia 10 percent and Sanyo 4 percent.

-- Almost 70 percent of phones sold in the quarter were equipped with Bluetooth, an increase of 9 percent from the first quarter.

-- Less than half, or 45 percent, of new phones were able to play music (up 11 percent from the first quarter).

-- 11 percent were higher-end smartphones (up 32 percent).

NPD said it gets this data by surveying 150,000 consumers each month.