RIM's BlackBerry overtakes Apple's iPhone in US browser usage

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
A new report shows that Research in Motion's BlackBerry platform overtook Apple's iOS in terms of U.S. mobile Internet usage in November.



StatCounter on Wednesday released new data that shows BlackBerry ahead of the iPhone for the first time ever. RIM's BlackBerry OS had a 34.3 percent Web browsing share in November, slightly ahead of Apple's 33 percent.



The Web analytics company also revealed that Google's Android continues to grow in share. A year ago, it had an 8.2 percent total share, while this year that grew to 23.8 percent.



In the same period, Apple's iOS has seen its Web browsing share tracked by StatCounter drop from 51.9 percent to 33 percent. The data is based on 15 billion page views per month, collected from more than 3 million websites.



The company said that based on current trends, BlackBerry and Android combined will double iOS in terms of Internet usage in the next year.



"These figures suggest that developers should not be developing solely for the iPhone to the exclusion of BlackBerry and Android," said StatCounter Chief Executive Aodhan Cullen.







It's a different story globally, though, where Nokia's Symbian mobile operating system has a 31.9 percent share. Apple's iOS is in second with 21.9 percent, and BlackBerry is in third with 19.3 percent. Google Android takes fourth with 11.6 percent, according to StatCounter.



In 2008, StatCounter revealed that the iPhone's Mobile Safari had quickly become the top mobile browser in the U.S. The Irish company said at the time that mobile browsing on the iPhone was three times greater than BlackBerry.



The latest figures are also very different from numbers released by the AdMob mobile advertising network in September 2009. That snapshot found iOS representing 40 percent of mobile browsing, while RIM's BlackBerry had shrunk to just 8 percent.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 114
    My guess is iOS users are spending more time on apps than web browsing.. I know I do. Stuff I'm looking at are ones I could've used the web to look up but I'm using an app instead to get it (news, sports, fb, etc).
  • Reply 2 of 114
    It's because of tiered data plans. Plain and simple.
  • Reply 3 of 114
    the increase is in November. a huge number of business users are taking vacation... traveling or working from home.

    but really... who cares?
  • Reply 4 of 114
    kotatsukotatsu Posts: 1,010member
    I keep reading about how Nokia is dominant internationally, including here in the UK, but I just don't see it anymore. I used to see Nokias everywhere, but for the past few years it's been all Blackberrys and iPhones, with a rare Android sighting.



    It's interesting though that Blackberry, which isn't really even a smart phone, is still so popular. Those things are everywhere here, and not just with men in suits, I see a lot of young women with them too.
  • Reply 5 of 114
    irnchrizirnchriz Posts: 1,617member
    nvm, removed post.
  • Reply 6 of 114
    roos24roos24 Posts: 170member
    I find this very hard to believe. So Apple with iPhone and iPad has less web usage than RIM, with its reportedly mediocre browser on a few models of their phones?



    No way.



    Irish company huh? Hmmm.
  • Reply 7 of 114
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member
    Hard to believe.

    Personally I wouldn't want to browse web on most of RIM phones.
  • Reply 8 of 114
    Rim, rim, rim!!!
  • Reply 9 of 114
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wurm5150 View Post


    My guess is iOS users are spending more time on apps than web browsing.. I know I do. Stuff I'm looking at are ones I could've uses the web to look up but I'm using an app instead to get it (news, sports, fb, etc).



    And the disparity will only continue to grow. However, this is by design. Steve Jobs predicted that people would spend less time on the web and more time on Apps which makes for more effective advertising. Apple isn't going after web advertising, it's going after in app advertising.
  • Reply 10 of 114
    bilbo63bilbo63 Posts: 285member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wurm5150 View Post


    My guess is iOS users are spending more time on apps than web browsing.. I know I do. Stuff I'm looking at are ones I could've uses the web to look up but I'm using an app instead to get it (news, sports, fb, etc).



    I concur good sir, exactly.
  • Reply 11 of 114
    almaalma Posts: 31member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Roos24 View Post


    I find this very hard to believe. So Apple with iPhone and iPad has less web usage than RIM, with its reportedly mediocre browser on a few models of their phones?



    No way.



    Irish company huh? Hmmm.







    What does being Irish have to do with your accusations that they are liars? Are you saying that Irish people are liars in general?
  • Reply 12 of 114
    keep flooding the market with cheap smartphones and you'll get large data usage. You won't make squat in profits.
  • Reply 13 of 114
    almaalma Posts: 31member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stophobophobia View Post


    And the disparity will only continue to grow. However, this is by design. Steve Jobs predicted that people would spend less time on the web and more time on Apps







    But he also said that third-party apps are unnecessary on the iPhone because of rich web apps.



    I don't know what to believe anymore.
  • Reply 14 of 114
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Interesting that this would happen after Apple beats RiM in unit sales. It seems odd that as Apple?s user base grows that RiM would be catching up after iOS has such a large lead. It makes me wonder if RiM has bested Apple this past month in unit sales and what(if) they?ve done to their OS to make browsing on it so much more useful.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wurm5150 View Post


    My guess is iOS users are spending more time on apps than web browsing.. I know I do. Stuff I'm looking at are ones I could've uses the web to look up but I'm using an app instead to get it (news, sports, fb, etc).



    Does StatCounter not capture data from apps, too? I was under the impression that apps connected to the internet via HTTP requests and were therefore added to these results.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by drewyboy View Post


    It's because of tiered data plans. Plain and simple.



    I love how ?plain and simple? is derived from no hard evidence and with a complete lack of considering other variables. This is only StatCounters info, which is highly limited in scope, but most glaring is the fact that very few users ever exceeded the limits of what is now offered by tiered plans from AT&T. Therefore, for your comment to be a ?plain and simple? truth users would have to be artificially limiting their usage to a fraction of their tiered data limits. For us to believe that you?ll have to provide some evidence to support your claim.
  • Reply 15 of 114
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    Such a jump does seem strange BB 6 with it's new webkit based browser is still not available on many devices.



    Are these hits coming from BIS?



    Maybe RIM has started caching data on their servers which could explain this.
  • Reply 16 of 114
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alma View Post


    But he also said that third-party apps are unnecessary on the iPhone because of rich web apps.



    He never said that.
  • Reply 17 of 114
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hill60 View Post


    Such a jump does seem strange BB 6 with it's new webkit based browser is still not available on many devices.



    Are these hits coming from BIS?



    Maybe RIM has started caching data on their servers which could explain this.



    That does make more sense. Whatever the reason for the jump StatCounter and this article are missing a piece of the puzzle. I give it 6 hours before more information as to ?why' comes out.
  • Reply 18 of 114
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wurm5150 View Post


    My guess is iOS users are spending more time on apps than web browsing.. I know I do. Stuff I'm looking at are ones I could've used the web to look up but I'm using an app instead to get it (news, sports, fb, etc).



    good thinking!

    and after I got Atomic Web browser I often make it to be identified simply as a Safari (not Mobile) browser.

    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/atomi...347929410?mt=8
  • Reply 19 of 114
    There is nothing about this article that rings true.
  • Reply 20 of 114
    Agreed, most people are using apps for their internet services.



    Correct smartphone comparison: amount of data used per month.
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