Android up, iOS down… but can we believe the numbers?
Summary: Today's stats from NetMarketShare and Statcounter show an uptick in web browsing with the Android operating system and a dip in Apple's iOS. But the two firms disagree about which OS is ahead, and that doesn't inspire confidence in the numbers.
Android has shown a promising uptick in web browsing, according to statistics published by NetMarketShare today (Thursday). There's a corresponding dip in Apple's iOS. This may not mean anything: it could be a blip caused by the timing of Apple's iPad launches and the initial success of Google's Nexus 7 tablet, or whatever. But if the trend continues, we could see Android overtaking iOS in the metric that NetMarketShare measures: web usage.
NetMarketShare's numbers for Mobile/Tablet Top Operating System Share are already somewhat odd, in view of the sales of Android phones. According to Gartner's tracking data for the second quarter of this year, for example, Android had 64.1 percent of the market by units compared with 18.8 percent for iOS, and Android has been ahead for some time. NetMarketShare's numbers for June 2012 are the reverse of Gartner's, and show iOS with a 65.3 percent share of web browsing compared with 19.7 percent for Android.
Assuming both numbers are correct, then Apple device owners must have a much greater propensity to browse than Android owners. This could be a reflection of other factors: perhaps iPhone owners have a better browsing experience, or perhaps they get (on average) better data deals, or whatever. Since large tablet screens also seem likely to encourage more web browsing, Apple's tablet market leadership should also be a significant factor.
But these are just assumptions. Maybe NetMarketShare's numbers are simply wrong.
Statcounter certainly has a different view. Its numbers show that mobile Android web browsing has grown strongly over the past two years. On Statcounter's graph, the latest uptick shows Android increasing its market share from 26.5 percent in July 2012 to 30.2 percent today, with iOS dipping from 25.4 percent to 23.7 percent. Rather than Android trailing far behind iOS, as NetMarketShare thinks, Statcounter reckons it's already ahead.
Either way, it would be useful if NetMarketShare's numbers provided a pretty accurate view of the mobile operating system market, as they appear to do with desktop operating systems and web browsers. Yes, we still have shipment data from Gartner, IDC, IHS iSupply and similar companies. However, these have other problems, and shipments don't account for the scrappage rate. (For example, if mobile phones last for two years, on average, while PCs last for four years, mobiles will need to ship many more units to sustain the same installed base.)
There may well be a disparity when it comes to tracking Apple and Android unit shipments. Apple provides quarterly numbers that we can be sure are accurate, and it's the only source of iOS devices. By contrast, loads of Android phones and tablets are shipped by small Chinese companies, many of them using their own versions of Android. These "white box" and off-brand sales are very hard to track, but they could be a significant part of the Android market.
If we can't see these phones and tablets coming off Chinese production lines, we should at least be able to see them appear on the web.
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Talkback
Most Android devices are used only as featurephones at best
This is the reason why web usage data is upside-down of sales statistics.
Gradually, this is going to change, because people will get used to see their phones as smartphones, and data traffic around the world will get cheaper.
So yes, we can believe the numbers. However, there is distinction should be made between overall OS web usage statistics and specifically tablet web usage statistics. This one for iOS not only did not go down, it actually went slightly up, according to latest researches.
Thus what we have now with overall statistics: iOS web usage went down specifically for *smartphones* -- Apple was stagnating in smartphone sales for couple of quarters, while Android advanced. And yes, more Android phone buyers are getting used to treat their phones as smartphones.
Yet another DERSSS spin
Saying "oh but the smart phone is more" or "but tablet is more" is just trying to find silverlinings of an overall losing situation. It's like someone argued that he lose a debate but he looks good on tv.
Seriously Apple, go find a better paid shill for zdnet.
More Samic lies?
Nope. Each have drastically different basis's for how they handle devices. iOS far far far outpaces Android on web data. If you want to see StatCounters full data use the following link:
http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-ww-monthly-201211-201211-bar
and download the RAW data in CSV file format.
yeah and NetmarkeShare stats are always years off
I personally dont trust and use NetMarketShare, as it does not correlate with our own browser stats. Statcounter on the other hand statistically closely follows what we track.
To each their own.
NetMarketShare is balanced for global usage
"Balancing Numbers" means injecting imaginary numbers.
Keep in mind that NMS only monitors corporate customers--not commercial websites. That alone skews numbers ridiculously.
Pretty much...
And they all complain that the battery only lasts a couple of days, instead of a couple of weeks.
You have to realize that Android users have had 4 years to get used
iCoud syncing
bang! one user but double the web traffic.
Just like your theory
yeh
presto, more web traffic.
even someone as dense as you would realise iOS is not very efficient with internet bandwidth.
You are misusing the data.
Mobile iOS is iPhone only.
OS iOS is iPhone+iPad+iPod Touch.
Mobile Android is all Android devices. To date, I have not seen a spit of different form factors on StatCounter.
Net Applications on the other hand treat iOS as iOS regardless of iPhone or iPad. Seen in this light, both StatCounter and Net Applications have closer data with iOS still having the lions share of mobile data usage.
I'm Not Sure Why We Care
Given all this, why do we care that IOS users seem to use the web more? All it can mean is that they're using their apps less. So if you want to offer a native app instead of pushing your users to a website, you will get more usage (and users) on Android.
Actually, most data points to iOS users using their Apps more.
There is no question Android has unit share but it is little more than a sustaining technology and has shown to have minimal disruptive potential. iOS, on the other hand, has been seriously disruptive driving existing manufactures to look for some tech (Android today, WP8 the next day, Tizen the next) to sustain their current business. Market share without utilization is a fools game.
This difference in disruptive VS sustaining forces is what drives the average iOS users to be much heavier more engaged with their device when compared to the average Android user.
Re: Actually, most data points to iOS users using their Apps more
But the stats are misused.
StatCounter tracks iOS as meaning the iPhone.
Net Applications track iOS as the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. You can't do the simplistic comparison the blogger did.
Android showed large gains in Africa and Asia and almost none in North America and Europe.
The author did not dig into the data to begin to understand it.
Re: But the stats are misused.
OS Activity Differences
Why? Not sure.
Perhaps you are a bit "skewed"....
You can always spot Apple people in these conversations, because the think it's still 2008.
Lies, damn lies, and statistics.