When you consider how many devices there are around the world that connect to the Internet, it’s pretty impressive to hear the iOS, which powers only a handful of different gadgets, is taking a 2% share of all global online activity.
That is the latest data from Net Applications, and represents a record for how much of the world’s Internet data comes from iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches. According to the report, 2.06% of all Web traffic comes from those devices.
Even more impressive is how that number changes in countries where Apple’s mobile products are most popular. For example, in Singapore, iOS is just shy of reaching 10% of the country’s Internet market share. In the UK and Australia, it accounts for more than 5%.
Here in the US, it’s in the 5% range. The strong presence of iOS as a Web platform is felt in all of the six major continents. Even South America and Africa have scattered areas where iOS penetration is strong.
While iOS is not the most popular smartphone platform around the world, it appears it may be the most popular one that people actually take online. That’s because if you’re buying an iPhone, you want everything that comes with it. That may not necessarily be the case with some lower-end Android phones, which customers may appreciate for the interface and calling features, but perhaps may not take online as often as the average iPhone owner.
Keep in mind, too, that iOS is only on about four or five devices that are currently being manufactured, and less than a dozen if you look at the entire lifespan of the iPhone/iPod product history. So even though Windows, Mac, and other operating systems may have a much more significant share of the world’s Web traffic, they’re doing it with hundreds of products on the market.
To that end, the iPhone is one powerful little device.