iPod touch Web share triples; Windows reaches new low

Web browsing market share for the iPod touch has tripled in just five months, outpacing the iPhone and other mobile devices, according to new statistics.

Though the iPod touch accounted a tiny 0.05 percent of all web traffic in November, according to Net Applications, the device's use has seen steady gains that put the touchscreen Wi-Fi device at 0.15 percent -- still tiny, but a 300 percent increase in its footprint in less than six months.

Clearly, more people are discovering the iPod touch as an inexpensive portable Internet browsing device.

To compare, iPhone share also grew substantially during the period but grew 150 percent (from 0.37 percent to 0.55 percent of all Web traffic), despite having always-on 3G capability.

Make no mistake: the iPod touch is a hot piece of device, and it's a wonder why there hasn't been a serious Wi-Fi-only contender to the device from any of Apple's competitors. Sure, 3G devices are immensely lucrative for their limitless data plans, but what do consumers really want -- particularly in an economic downturn?

(Hint: not another contract.)

Also of note: Microsoft Windows' share, while still the lion's share of the market, has dropped to its lowest point since tracking began, falling to 87.9 percent. (By comparison, Mac share dipped slightly to 9.73 percent.)

Alternatively, Linux passed the 1 percent mark for the first time. [via]