Apple iPhone controls over 66% of all mobile web use
In its first detailed look at web market share for cellphones, a research firm has found that Apple's iPhone represents a staggering 66.61 percent of mobile traffic while its competitors have only just gained a foothold.
Net Applications' February results show the iPhone operating system having managed over nine times the usage of its next smartphone competitor, Windows Mobile, which had just 6.91 percent of the traffic measured across tens of thousands of sites.
Other smartphone platforms haven't fared any better, according to the metrics. Google's Android and Symbian were both locked in a tie for 6.15 percent. Research in Motion's email-centric BlackBerry OS was used less often at just 2.24 percent and was even outmatched by PalmOS devices, which represented 2.37 percent of cellular web use last month.
Why the particularly wide gap exists between Apple and its rivals hasn't been explained. However, the data backs up AdMob findings which showed the iPhone getting half of all US smartphone traffic and a third of smartphone use worldwide during the month before. The use has previously been credited to a spike in Apple device ownership after the holidays as well as to the relative strength of the Safari web browser.
Mobile web market share for February 2009.
Even with such a discrepancy, Net Applications noted that the achievements of Android and BlackBerry OS are significant; Android wasn't even available before October and so gained in four months the web share that took Symbian years to achieve.
The news may have to placate Apple fans given a fairly stale month in desktop-class operating systems. Windows has reclaimed a small portion of its steadily declining share and climbed a fifth of a point to 88.42 percent, while Mac OS X share has backed down from its all-time high in January to 9.61 percent.
And compared to all operating systems, the iPhone still has the same 0.48 percent of the web -- making its usage still very small in comparison to that of the larger computing world.
Net Applications' February results show the iPhone operating system having managed over nine times the usage of its next smartphone competitor, Windows Mobile, which had just 6.91 percent of the traffic measured across tens of thousands of sites.
Other smartphone platforms haven't fared any better, according to the metrics. Google's Android and Symbian were both locked in a tie for 6.15 percent. Research in Motion's email-centric BlackBerry OS was used less often at just 2.24 percent and was even outmatched by PalmOS devices, which represented 2.37 percent of cellular web use last month.
Why the particularly wide gap exists between Apple and its rivals hasn't been explained. However, the data backs up AdMob findings which showed the iPhone getting half of all US smartphone traffic and a third of smartphone use worldwide during the month before. The use has previously been credited to a spike in Apple device ownership after the holidays as well as to the relative strength of the Safari web browser.
Mobile web market share for February 2009.
Even with such a discrepancy, Net Applications noted that the achievements of Android and BlackBerry OS are significant; Android wasn't even available before October and so gained in four months the web share that took Symbian years to achieve.
The news may have to placate Apple fans given a fairly stale month in desktop-class operating systems. Windows has reclaimed a small portion of its steadily declining share and climbed a fifth of a point to 88.42 percent, while Mac OS X share has backed down from its all-time high in January to 9.61 percent.
And compared to all operating systems, the iPhone still has the same 0.48 percent of the web -- making its usage still very small in comparison to that of the larger computing world.
Comments
And compared to all operating systems, the iPhone still has the same 0.48 percent of the web -- making its usage still very small in comparison to that of the larger computing world.
I think that's probably a pretty good percentage considering the number of iPhones in use vs. number of computers in use.
...all those other phone's are stuck at the first site waiting for the Flash to load!
This promotes Web Standard, and in the end helps Saferi on the desktop
Not that I'm bashing here, but with the amount of iPhonies I've seen who own the phone but have no data plan, it means that mobile Safari has gained traction as a Wifi browsing device more often than not.
That is good. So every company who wants their Website to be viewable on mobile will have to consider Saferi. ( Which is like the IE on mobile market )
This promotes Web Standard, and in the end helps Saferi on the desktop
yay!!
Why the particularly wide gap exists between Apple and its rivals hasn't been explained.
No explanation needed. The reason is simply that the iPhone was designed to be used as a web tool.
It's the UI that set's it apart. When will the "experts" ever realize that a tool is not so much about function as it is about usability.
This is hardly a fair comparison...
...all those other phone's are stuck at the first site waiting for the Flash to load!
hahah
No explanation needed. The reason is simply that the iPhone was designed to be used as a web tool.
It's the UI that set's it apart. When will the "experts" ever realize that a tool is not so much about function as it is about usability.
a tool is not so much about function as it is about usability?
how can something be usable if it does not function? and what is functional if it is not used?
I think you mean it has form and function? And the experts have gotten this right, say what you want, but Opera Mini is still a fast and versatile browser amongst many platforms.
I don't know if this counts, but also on RIM products Viigo is a great RSS reader that pulls updates on your favorite sites so browsing isn't necessary especially if you don't need to dick around with your phone all day.
Different strokes for different folks. Apple's web browser is great, but still hardly dented in the desktop market. If people loved Safari so much on the mobile why hasn't this transitioned into desktop figures yet? It's available both on Windows and Mac... weird huh?
Mobile Firefox and Google Chrome when they are released will make for some interesting competition. Apple is sitting pretty in a mobile market with no competitors in sight. Not so hard to dominate when you're competition hasn't arrived yet. (I speak only in browser category here, they still lack the efficiency an productivity of other smartphones)
Apple's iPhone represents a staggering 66.61 percent of mobile traffic while its competitors have only just gained a foothold.
...
Research in Motion's email-centric BlackBerry OS was used less often at just 2.24
CEOs don't have time to hang on the web. Fashionable young ladies got plenty of that.
Congrats, Apple. Nobody's arguing, you can make things happen.
I wonder if AdMob could distinguish between iPod Touch Safari and iPhone. While I don't want to argue about it on this forum, it's an interesting note to make that iPod Touch's Safari is commonly grouped into these results...
This has come up many times, and the short answer is yes. At least for NetApplications. I've looked at their data on their website and they definitely separated out the two in the past.
What I'd like to know is how many people would be using it if you weren't forced into taking data with an iPhone. The results are hardly a shocker when many millions are coerced into taking a data plan.
Well considering at least Verizon, Sprint and I believe AT&T as well force anyone buying a smartphone like a Blackberry, Palm, or WinMobile to have a *mandatory* data plan, I don't think it matters much. These policies used to apply solely to Blackberry, but at least with Verizon they now force it on any smartphone.
Not so hard to dominate when you're competition hasn't arrived yet. (I speak only in browser category here, they still lack the efficiency an productivity of other smartphones)
Well, its coming up on 24-months now and apparently most companies have hardly been trying... You would think by now that all the Taiwanese/Japanese companies would have just used faster CPUs, added more RAM, and bought licenses to Opera mobile...
The Irony of course is that Google, Palm, and everyone else will be "competing" by implementing a version of Apple's WebKit in "their" browsers...
I help manage a large web site that has nothing to do with technology or phones or computers. I get 10's of millions of hits. And among mobile browsers, I see
- 79% iPhone
- 8% BB
- 6% Win
- 7% All others
It could be my demographic, which is basically middle class North America, Europe, and Japan. It could be our counting scheme - we don't count by "hits", but by "sessions" (local and proxy caches makes hits a pointless metric).
Even more interesting is the BROWSER RETURN RATE of logged in users. We find that roughly 85% of our users that have used the iPhone use it again against our website within a week. The next best platform is the WinCE platform, where 8% of the people who used it return with it. I take this to mean that people who use the iPhone keep using it, and people who use another platform often avoid using it.
What I'd like to know is how many people would be using it if you weren't forced into taking data with an iPhone. The results are hardly a shocker when many millions are coerced into taking a data plan.
Co-erced into taking a data plan? Yeah 'cos consumers buy iPhones for it's voice features.
I can pay £5 for a non-contract voice-only phone. People buying iPhones want data on the move, if they didn't they'd have a cheap mobile and an iPod touch.
What I'd like to know is how many people would be using it if you weren't forced into taking data with an iPhone. The results are hardly a shocker when many millions are coerced into taking a data plan.
Give it a rest mrochester.
Virtually identical data plans are sold (coerced) with Blackberries, Windows Mobile devices and the G1.
Since those devices do not show the same level of data use you must concede that some other factors must come into play.
C.
Co-erced into taking a data plan? Yeah 'cos consumers buy iPhones for it's voice features.
I can pay £5 for a non-contract voice-only phone. People buying iPhones want data on the move, if they didn't they'd have a cheap mobile and an iPod touch.
I don't think that's the only group of iPhone buyers. The suggestion of buying a phone and a touch means you're carrying two different electronic devices (awkward!), and the iPod touch can't dial the phone that I'm aware of. Most phones can't don't seem to sync contacts with the computer.
We find that roughly 85% of our users that have used the iPhone use it again against our website within a week. The next best platform is the WinCE platform, where 8% of the people who used it return with it. I take this to mean that people who use the iPhone keep using it, and people who use another platform often avoid using it.
Had people been dropping their cheap phones every week to join the iPhone community, we all would have already been there.
Let me put it another way. BB owners are indeed oftenly high fliers. Not because of BB supremacy in features or quality, but because of RIM's successful marketing, that also began earlier. And those BB owners, being middle-aged and not that numerous, neither are used to visit web sites a lot, nor are predisposed to do it with inconvenient palm size terminals, nor have enough time for it.
Cheap phones are held by the youngest people. They just can't carry iPhone, it is too large for their hands.
And those, who aren't mentioned above, are actually your people. They're young enough to be used to browsing web, yet they already have steady habits and know exactly why they need your site. They need browsing on the go. Thus they choose iPhone for this is the best handheld web browsing device nowadays.