Commentary

IPhone Notches A Monthly Gain In Web Share

Android may be gaining share on Apple's iOS, but that doesn't mean the iPhone itself isn't still going strong as an individual smartphone. Apple's signature device accounted for a 37% share of mobile Web use in August, up a percentage point from the prior month, presumably on the strength of iPhone 4 sales, according to data released Tuesday by Web measurement firm Quantcast.

On Friday, Quantcast issued monthly data on mobile Web share based on operating system, showing Android still well behind iOS but continuing to gain ground, with 25% share to iOS' 56%. But in comparing mobile Web use by manufacturer rather than operating system, the latest Quantcast research shows the iPod touch in August dropped from a 20% to a 19% share.

During Apple's third quarter, the company sold 8% fewer iPods than the year earlier, but managed to increase iPod revenue 4% through the sales of the higher-priced touch models. To help bolster interest in the iPod, which has seen declining unit sales for five straight quarters, Apple last week introduced updated versions, adding features like video chat and a multi-touch screen.

Whether the iPod upgrades will reverse the trend of declining unit sales in Apple's fourth quarter remains to be seen. (Quantcast doesn't include the iPad in its ranking of mobile Web share by vendor.) But the launch of Android devices like the Droid X and Sprint's 4G Evo have helped device makers Motorola and HTC bypass BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion and make inroads on Apple.

The two companies each claimed an 11% share of mobile Web browsing last month, with Motorola picking up a percentage point, HTC holding steady, and RIM dropping a percentage point to 9%. Fourth-place Samsung gained a percentage point to reach 5%. Motorola surpassed HTC for the first time in August and has increased share 10.8% year-to-date -- more than any other manufacturer. Quantcast says its August analysis was based on more than four billion mobile pageviews.

 

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