Apple's iOS Dominates Mobile Internet Traffic

Bangalore: According to an industry study by Net Applications, a web analytics firm, 65.27% of mobile Internet users in June 2012 used Apple’s iOS. The study compiled data from the browsers of mobile traffic users and a network of over 40,000 websites, and counted unique visitors only, for one visit per day. Android came in second with 19.73% of the market, followed by Java ME with 10.22%, while Blackberry continued its downward trend with only 1.87% of the market.

Apple’s domination of the mobile marketplace is mostly due to its popular iPad, which had a market share of 36.7%. The iPhone came in second at 26.8%. Android 2.3 had 11%, while Java ME, primarily used in phones which cost less than $200, came in third at 9%. Microsoft Windows Phone and Windows Mobile had 0.75% of the market. Amazon’s Kindle Fire, which has benefitted from a ubiquitous marketing campaign by one of the world’s largest retailers, ranked 14th on the list, with only a 0.47% market share.

These numbers disagree with surveys which indicate that Android has a larger market share than the iOS, but other surveys count multiple visits by the same users. Unique visitor stats are a better indicator of how many people are actually using which devices. The overall numbers for the last year show iOS rising and Android beginning to level out, while Blackberry and Java ME are falling rapidly.

According to a recent article in Bloomberg, Blackberry maker Research In Motion Ltd (RIM) is now being pressured by mobile phone companies to lower their carrier fees. RIM stock has dropped 95% in the last four years, and the company stands to lose as much as $35 billion in fees by 2014.

 “These numbers aren’t really news to us. Over the last couple of years, we have watched iOS become dominant, and we have watched RIM, for all practical purposes, fall off the face of the earth,” said Craig Aitken, SmarterApps Owner and Director.

Aitken attributes the numbers to Apple presenting users with more options and superior products. “For a lot of people, price point has been an issue for Apple products, especially their Macintosh computer line. Nowadays, though, Apple’s iPad line is very affordable, and their iPhones are available for extremely low prices with activation for most of the major phone carriers.”

Aitken continued, “Everything is lining up perfectly for Apple right now. They are selling a superior product at a reasonable price, and the public has recognized that. Also, it certainly hasn’t hurt that Apple is now enforcing more stringent standards when accepting apps. At this point in time, consumers have a lot more confidence in Apple and iOS than they do in Android. They see Apple as on the way up, Android as on the way down, and it almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy in the marketplace.”