When Steve Jobs first announced the iPhone, he promised that it would revolutionize the mobile browsing experience. Roughly 1.4 million sales later it barely registers than more than a blip on global mobile phone sales charts, but its users a making their mark.
According to figures from Net Applications, the iPhone now holds a 0.09% browser market share; a small figure perhaps but remarkable when compared to the market share of Windows CE on 0.06%; this despite at least 20 million Windows Mobile devices having been sold. Simply iPhone users are using their iPhone to surf the web far more often than users of Windows powered mobile phones. Symbian phone users (S60) rank at a lowly 0.01%, despite Nokia having sold hundreds of millions of phones worldwide.
In perspective the iPhone still only holds a small marketshare in the area that counts (sales) but those users are becoming a far more influential and reachable target audience than users of other phones, such as the LandRover iPhone campaign in our earlier post also shows. With a 3G version on the iPhone due in 2008 that will finally deliver broadband mobile browsing speeds to the handset, this is a product that will just continue to grow in importance.
(via Computerworld)
Hey looks like apple users are more tech savvy and netizens at heart.
http://tekno-wo...ld.blogspot.com
As a matter of fact, I’m reading and responding to this story on my iPhone.
This is probably how the future of computers and internet is going to be. For the next generation phones like iPhone will be a key driver in internet industry and the added power of anywhere access on phones must give rise to some strangely new industries.
WiFi support.
Main reason is the fact that you’re FORCED to get a data plan with the iphone. With any windows powered phone, people have the option not to get the data plan.
So, kind of a forced thing, dont you think? If you HAVE to pay for it, might as well use it, right?
Sorry, but iphones are just sub-par phones all around. I had one for a week and took it back. Oh well, lets keep feeding the hype. After all, hype moves products.
not forgetting that, certainly here in the uk, previous data tarrifs have been extremely extortionate and horrifically limited in the amount of data you can use in a month too – someone where I work racked up a £1000 bill in a month just checking their email.
The 2 markets have been handled differently and so can’t be directly compared, what this does show however is that an “unlimited” data tarrif actually entices people to use the net on their phone – who’d have thought it!
Phr0zt
you’re only forced to get a data plan if you sign up with AT&T. If you unlock it you’re not forced to, but many (like me) choose to anyway because the joy in having an iPhone is the way it does data and web surfing; if you just wanted a phone for calls you’d get a Nokia
Hardly surprising. The iPhone rocks.
This doesn’t take into account the millions of people who install Opera on their Series 60 handset and use that instead of the crappy default browser. It’s not that people aren’t browsing the web on their Nokias, it’s just that they are doing it with an Opera user-agent string.
Targeted advertising….. all the more reason NOT to buy an iPhone. Is there no sanctuary from these advertising parasites?!
Stick ‘em all in the “B Ark” and fire them all off in to space I say
I surfed online one whole summer two years ago on a Nokia Communicator on a Nordic GPRS wireless network. While the surfing speeds were ok, the prices for pay-by-MB were ridiculously high.
THAT has been why there has not been more mobile web usage in Europe for some of the past years.
Getting a fixed price for all surfing without a data limit for 3G or better, just like one pays for an ADSL connection (at least in Nordic countries) is the feature changing the game, not iPhone or any other phone itself.
This article is misleading. Please discuss how these statistics are gathered.
It is in no way a complete or accurate sampling of the global browser market. Given the market penetration of Symbian, if even a fraction of the devices were used to surf the web it would eclipse the iPhone.
Given the mobile web usage in Asia, Africa, Russia, and Europe, it sounds quite unrealistic to place the iPhone at the top of the mobile browser stats. Not to mention, mobile phones are used more than computers in many markets.
But again, according to Net Appliance, the primary source of the data is their “exclusive” list of customers, with a relatively low sampling of 160mm visits. I am guessing their list of customers does not include the major mobile (WAP/XHTML/WML/CHTML,etc) sites. Peperonity alone receives more than 10mm unique visits.
In short, the mobile market consists of billions of devices. I think there should be more objectivity and analysis in this article.
I’m with NokiaComm – I think this has very little to do with the device and alot to do with the unlimited data packages that are very new in most mobile markets.
simplicity creates useability – I think that’s the major key to success these days.
Isn’t thy iPhone sold with some kind of flatrate almost everywhere? That would explain why its users surf more often then, say Nokia users.
Unsurprising. They have to be on the Internet constantly telling people what a great product the iPhone is, otherwise they might start thinking about whether it is or not and whether they should have paid over $1,000 (including the overpriced contract) for it. Ford Prefect’s theory that if humans close their mouths, their brains start working is absolutely correct (hey, two Hitchhiker’s references in one thread).
I think the main reason for the result is just that iPhone users are simply more likely to browse with their device. To show it off with pals, and because they have unlimited data with their contract.
Apple is going to have a hard time to make it stick.
This is just comparing handsets with handsets. In mobile industry a big factor on use of different functions on a mobile is how much it costs you. If you ignore that fact, it is as if you have compared two Internet users, one with modem and another with broadband and concluded that broadband user uses the Internet more often. Yes, well, so what. In these comparisons, you need to be a bit more systematic, and can’t attribute any positive factor to “Well of course, it is iPhone after all”.
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Future Converged
http://www.futureconverged.com
Surely iPhone users are in the honeymoon phase of trying out all the features and demoing it to others. Eventually they, like Treo users et al, will tire of browsing the web on a small, slow device.
I think this is probably related to the wifi on the device and the very high data prices in some countries (Argentina, for instance).
Some very techy people i know are using phones with wifi + skype mobile + skype out to make phone calls because is cheaper than regular calls.
It would be nice to know how many of the other “compared to” devices have wifi or not and the prices of data plans also.
To the iPhone poo-poo’ers above… I’ve had an iPhone for several months – well beyond the “honeymoon period” and can honestly say that its the best purchase I’ve made in years. Easily its the best phone I’ve ever owned (and, over the past 15 years, I’ve owned a great number of cel phones). The iPhone successfully delivers the dream that the other major manufacturers should have been able to do years ago… a phone that works that has advanced functionality that anyone can use. Is it surprising that iPhone users access the internet more than users on other mobile devices? Not if you’ve ever used an iPhone. I actually *choose* to use my iPhone to surf some sites over my computer because the experience is better… could you imagine that on any Windows Mobile device?!?
“barely registers than more than a blip on global mobile phone sales charts, but its users a making their mark”
Duncan, are you sleepy or something? your typing is worse than ever.
I actually wrote what #21 did almost verbatim, then realized he nailed exactly what I wanted to say. It’s true, this device delivers. I also use it instead of my PC while I’m at home. There is no honeymoon phase. You would understand if you owned one.
Chris (#9): I really doubt that people would use Opera on the newer Nokia devices with Nokias new S60 Browser. It has been there since about N73. And Opera on Symbian does tell the operating system correctly, doesn’t it?
What I do think is that #12 has definitely got a point. Ned more data about the data!
Hey Duncan, did you ever think about the fact that the WM devices are more likely to access MOBILE versions of sites where as iPhones are more likely to access REGULAR versions of the same sites?? I’m sure if you look at the states for mobile specific sites it would be something like 50% WM and 2% iPhone.
Also, a lot of WM owners user Opera Mini to access sites that don’t have mobile specific versions on their WM devices, are they counted in the survey?
I think its better to wait for the 3G iphone…and lets see how the iphone fairs after the “wow” factor wears off..for sure its NOT and will NEVER be the crackberry. the iPhone is for the youtube generation which see it as a fashion accessory, its not for business power users so Windows Mobile and Blackberry can breathe easy..Duncan please research for us the numbers for email usage, other apps..as the 9 to 5 guys hardly have time for browsing youtube on a mobile device…
might it be because stats are only gathered on “real” pages, and not on the wap.mydomain.com or mobile.mydomain.com?
Is it really needed? there are many hotspot for faster internet browsing.
I’ve had several “Internet capable” phones and none of them lived up to their promise. They’re all in my desk-drawer graveyard.
A few days ago I bought an iPhone, and while it has some “warts”, it is by far the most usable Internet-enabled phone I’ve seen… If Apple would add flash support, browsing the web would be MUCH better on the iPhone.
The reason iPhone doesn’t support flash is likely more about Jobs’ politics, ego & greed, vs. technical ability.
The day unlimited internet browsing comes with a regular $50 plan, that day, the browser share will jump through the roof.
waiting for it to reach India. Why are we always the last ones to get anything ??
Duncan, I’m sure even less than 1% bigger share than Microsoft’s is a big deal for Apple:-)
If only people switched computers as quickly as phones, that would have been the case with Mac too. Attractive phones are easier to sell than attractive computers!!
If 3G were so important, people would choose Motorola Q 9h right away, which is much more easier to use with a QWERTY keyboard, and makes frequent emailing and word processing so much easier. 3G will make some difference, but not a significant difference.
What makes an iPhone significantly different from others is it’s look and it’s price. Drop the price, and the sales will increase, however if everyone could afford it, it will lose it’simportance!
I just did the back of the envelope and it is kind of interesting what this translates to in terms of time per day for the average user.
iPhone = 2.9 minutes/day.
Windows Mobile = 8 seconds/day
(I just posted the data & assumptions on my blog.)
1. The iphone != browser. The browser is the safari for mobile.
2. Forcing every iphone user to use the safari mobile browser is not a sign of ‘delivering’ anything.
The same idea should be implemented on computers. Touchscreen laptops without keyboards