iOS web traffic overtakes Mac OS
Want more evidence that we're moving into a post-PC world where people are choosing to spend less time in front of traditional computers and instead option for more mobile, personal devices?
Web ads firm Chitika has released data which shows how US web traffic from iOS devices across its ad network (consisting of hundreds of millions of ad impressions) has overtaken that of Mac OS devices.
The data shows that the web market shares of iOS and OS X have been converging steadily since August. iOS has been posting regular gains, and has experienced an overall growth of nearly 50%, whereas OS X has seen its market share decline by 25% since a high point in September. February marks the first point where a reversal in position can be seen in the respective operating systems. iOS passes Mac OS with 8.15% of all web traffic, whereas Mac OS only sees 7.96%.
A couple of things did strike me about the data.
- During the last financial quarter Apple sold a staggering 28 million iPhones and iPads (on top of that significant number of iOS powered iPod touch devices) and only 4.8 million Macs. That's a huge explosion in devices, but we're not really seeing that in the data, which seems to indicate that Mac and iOS has flatlined (with respect to this ad network at any rate).
- iOS is clearly cannibalizing Mac OS web usage. There's almost a direct inverse correlation between the growth of iOS and the decline in Mac OS web usage. That correlation is spooky, and suggests that people who used to browse on a Mac are now browsing on an iPhone or iPad.