• by Steve Smith  @popeyesm, January 3, 2012

If nothing else, 2012 is sure to be a metrics battle between Apple and Google over market share for their respective mobile platforms. Add more numbers to the pile. According to Web measurement firm Net Applications, Apple’s mobile Safari browser and iOS operating system account for the majority of Web access from mobile devices. For the month of December, Net Applications saw 53% of mobile and tablet access to the Web coming from the Apple Safari browser, followed by 21.66% from the Opera Mini browser, 15.87% from Android, 3.33% from Symbian and 3.05% from BlackBerry.

When broken down by device and operating system version, the iPhone and iPad accounted for 25% each of Web access from mobile/tablet sources, with Java ME devices 21% and Android 2.2/2.3/3.2/3.3 totaling about 14%. Android-powered tablets such as the Galaxy Tab accounted for only .4% of mobile devices on the Web, and the new Amazon Kindle Fire accounted for .13%

Measurements of online access can vary greatly according to source, so Apple and Google come out on top according to how one slices the market. Net Applications measures statistics from browser-capable devices that can run HTML pages and javascript. The company says it is measuring how 160 million users each month access the Web.

At the same time, comScore reports in its survey of mobile subscribers that 47% of the 91.4 million U.S. smartphone owners say they are using an Android operating system, compared to 28.7% using Apple. Google has gained 3.1 points in share since August, with Apple up 1.4 points. RIM continues its decline, dropping 3.1 points to a 16.6% share of smartphones. Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform still waits for traction, with Microsoft smartphones losing .5% of the market, to 5.2%. comScore’s survey encompassed the three-month average including November 2011.