Apple’s iOS mobile operating system has surpassed their desktop operating system, OS X, in web traffic market share over the last six months. Apple had a record quarter in which they sold 37.04 million iPhones and 15.43 million iPads, and in which they saw their iPhone business alone surpass all of Microsoft in revenue. During that same time period, iOS gained almost 3% of total web market share to finish at 8.15% of web traffic. Mac OS X, meanwhile, lost a similar amount of web share to finish at 7.96%.
As the above graph shows, the two operating systems’ web market share almost perfectly mirrored each other during the period from August 2011 to February 2012. This suggests that perhaps OS X lost its web market share to iOS directly. The data for the study was gathered by Chitika, an advertising-centered analytics company. The authors of the study theorize that the simultaneous growth of iOS and decline of OS X in terms of web share may have to do with the lower price point of Apple’s iOS devices compared to their computers. They also suggest that the reversal may be a sign of the increasing mobilization of users’ lifestyles.
What do you think? Do you spend more time browsing on your phone or tablet than on your computer? Let us know int he comments.
