Data Monday: Mobile Browser Use

by August 20, 2012

Globally, mobile devices now account for over 10% of all Web traffic and show no signs of letting up. Amongst this rapid growth, Web browser traffic reveals some interesting trends.

  • On non-cellular networks, the iPhone and iPod Touch account for 24% of mobile browser activity while Android devices account for 18%. (source)
  • On cellular networks, the iPhone and iPod Touch account for 28% of mobile browser activity while Android devices account for 38%. (source)
  • On non-cellular networks, Mobile Safari accounts for 67% of mobile browser activity. iPad accounts for 43% of that. Android WebKit’s share is 18%. On Cellular networks, Mobile Safari accounts for 35% of mobile browsing, and only 7% of that comes from iPads. Android WebKit’s share is 38%, and less than 1% of that comes from tablets. (source)
  • 14.5% of iOS users currently surf the web on a platform other than the stock Safari browser. Most of this traffic doesn’t come from dedicated third-party browsers but from embedded Web UIViews inside native apps. (source)
  • Last month, Google launched Chrome for iOS. Today is has a market share of about 1.5% of Web browsing on iOS devices. (source)
  • Mobile traffic from BlackBerry devices plummeted 25% between September 2011 and July 2012. RIM’s smartphones and PlayBook tablet combined to account for as much as 5% of all mobile usage in the U.S. late last year but as of last month, that figure sank to just over 1%. (source)
  • The number of mobile phone users that use the Opera Mini browser has topped 200 million, which is up 47% from last year. Feature phones account for 92% of those users. 36 countries more than doubled their Opera Mini user bases in one year. (source)