Loading...
Symbols:
Authors:

Does Apple's iPhone Increase Browsing?

by: Ram Krishnan September 04, 2008 | about stocks: AAPL    

Ram Krishnan

About this author:
Become a Contributor Submit an Article
  • Font Size:
  • Print

Several surveys have revealed that Apple's (AAPL) iPhone users spend a lot of time surfing the Internet. Late last year, when Net Applications came out with its quarterly browser market share report, people immediately latched on to the fact that the iPhone, which at that time was in the market for a full 5 months, had a browser market share that was 33% greater than that of Windows Mobile (MSFT) devices.

This was obviously an amazing statistic at that point in time - in under two quarters, Apple’s handheld platform had passed Microsoft’s over a decade-old mobile platform in terms of browser use. The amazement was further amplified when you consider that iPhone was selling in only one geography (AT&T (T)) while over 20 million Windows Mobile platforms were in circulation. It’s not just just Windows Mobile that was getting killed by iPhone. S60/Symbian - the browser in Nokia’s N-Series platforms among others? About 1/10th.

Fast forward - I decided to go back and look at the Net Applications browser statistics to find out if iPhone users continued their incessant web-surfing behavior. I charted the browsing market share of both iPhone and Windows Mobile over six quarters. Clearly, iPhone is continuing its dizzying ascent, widening its lead significantly over Windows Mobile - the market share today stands at four times that of Windows Mobile. iPod has a 0.04% market share and is catching up with Windows Mobile as well.

At this rate, given iPhone 3G’s worldwide distribution, it is quite conceivable that iPhone/iPod will be the fourth largest computing platform in terms of browsing market share (behind only Windows XP, Windows Vista, MacIntel and Mac OS) by end of this year. It would have surpassed the browsing market share of Linux, Windows 2000 and Windows NT platforms. For a platform that has been in existence for less than two years and that too with limited distribution, that is an amazing feat. Check back to this entry for an update end of the year.

Disclosure: none

Related Articles

This article has 13 comments:

  •  
    Sep 04 08:30 AM
    Not so surprising. Previous PDAs or Smartphones are able to perform internet browsing. If really needed. If you are patient. If you can spend 5 minutes to just enter your name in a field or select a value in a drop-down list. With the Iphone, internet browsing becomes fast & easy. I wouldn't say it is a pleasure (impossible without a large screen and a real keyboard), but it is fast and quite easy. Personally , I never used internet browsing on my previous phones, except for testing. With the Iphone, I read the news on internet every time I have 5 minutes available.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 04 09:13 AM
    This post, like so many others, suffers from the 3 C's: Confusing Correlation with Causality. It is equally possible (and a simpler explanation) that people who browse the internet a lot are drawn to the iPhone, not that the iPhone causes additional browsing.

    In fact, given the sales ramp of the iPhone, it would be amazing NOT to see a rapid rise in mobile internet browsing. For a fuller explanation, see scottjberry.com/2008/0.../ .
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 04 10:20 AM
    Mr. Berry -

    I see nothing in here that states ANY causality whatsoever. The article only discusses market share over time with respect to other OSes, and offers no attempt at interpreting the data.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 04 10:21 AM
    @ S Berry

    No one said anything about causality. Of course the iPhone does not CAUSE someone to browse. ("You will browse or I will slay your first-born. Hehehehe!!") Furthermore, today almost everyone uses internet. So virtually all cell phone users are potential browsers.

    The simple fact is that browsing is easier and a much better experience than on any other existing cell phone. So this has resulted in more browsing both by users who have come to the iPhone specifically for this feature, and those who came to it for other reasons.

    I guess you could say that iPhone "causes" this behavior in the sense that its design is makes it attractive to this use. This is the "soft" or "loose" usage of the term "cause" not the "cue-to-10ball-to corner-packet" usage of the term.

    But if you are trying to tell me that iPhone browsing statistics is ONLY because people who want to browse flock to iPhone for other reasons, then I think you are out in left field.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 04 10:27 AM
    As for the article itself-

    Either iPhone will be in 5th place "behind only Windows XP, Windows Vista, MacIntel and Mac OS" OR it will be in THIRD place behind MS Windows and Mac OS.

    Breaking it down to XP vs Vista, Intel vs PowerPC Macs, etc. has its value for other purposes, but if you are talking about PLATFORM then it seems like iPhone will soon be in third place.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 04 11:21 AM
    It would be much more accurate to say the iPhone platform has been in existence just / barely over one year, rather than saying "under two years" as this article states.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 04 11:57 AM
    Actually, the title is what set me off: "Does the iPhone Increase Browsing?" That sure implies causality to me.

    After re-reading, I agree that the article itself is neutral. Mea culpa for being too quick on the trigger.

    @jimmx, no, that's not what I meant. I believe that people who already did a lot of browsing (on any platform) were more likely to be early adopter types, which is the same type who would naturally be attracted to the iPhone in the first place.

    I believe this is likely to be a much stronger contributor to increased browsing than people who bought an iPhone, all of a sudden "discovered" they could surf the internet better, and then decided to do it more.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 04 12:18 PM
    I had a treo for 6 yrs and browsed the web less than ten times. Why? Because the experience sucked. I've had this new iphone for less than 2weeks and I use the web all the time. The iPhone is simply the best cell phone browser out there.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 04 12:52 PM
    Tried and hated surfing with a host of crappy phones.
    I could see from the ads over a year ago that the iPhone made surfing the web a breeze.

    And guess what? It does! NOTHING else even comes close.

    If you havent tried the iPhone, do so and understand what Apple have done with this thing.

    Its a TOTAL game changer.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 04 05:33 PM
    Hey, the Iphone is just brilliant, and its browser is fantastic, I use it all the time out of the office, its just so easy to use, and the text is really clear to read. Just wish a few more companies will make there pages work properly on safari, only a matter of time.

    Other mobile phone browsers are just a joke, there is just no comparison.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 04 09:58 PM
    I think last month's numbers are 0.30% for the iPhone and 0.05% for the Touch. If you look at the daily numbers, the iPhone peaks on the weekend with a high of 0.48%. Pretty amazing. Linux is just ahead at 0.7%.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 05 01:29 AM
    After using the iPhone 3G for months, internet browsing and reading/sending email are just great. Just spend any minutes with this fantastic machine instead of watching through ordinary big computer moonitor or TV display.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 05 06:42 PM
    Mr. Berry,

    The same thing could be said for people who were the first to use Windows Mobile smartphones - tech savvy people who would have loved to browse if the platform encouraged the behavior. I constantly hear from tech-savvy people that their browsing patterns have completely changed after they started using the iPhone - I have no doubt that the user interface had something to do with it.
    Reply
More Comments on AAPL »
More by Ram Krishnan

Investment Resources
Money Management 

Research 

Seeking Alpha provides these ads as a service to its leading contributors
Articles on related themes
iPhone 

Internet Infrastructure 

Internet Search 

Internet Services