Apple’s mobile platform, iOS, is the third most-popular on the Internet, behind only Windows and Mac OS, one Internet usage research firm announced. The news is just the latest indication of the growing trend toward mobile computing.
While Windows had 91.3 percent of Internet usage, with Mac OS claiming five percent, iOS – which includes the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad – accounted for 1.1 percent of devices accessing the Internet in August, according to Net Applications. The figure put iOS ahead of both Android and Linux.
“It’s something to take note of when a mobile operating system passes something that’s been around forever,” said Vince Vizzaccaro, Net Applications vice president, noting iOS devices surpass the open-sourced operating system.
“Mobile’s growth curve is strong and mobile is become quite a phenomenon on the Internet,” he adds. As for the eternal Apple versus Google struggle, Net Applications said iOS has nearly a 6-to-1 advantage over the smartphone platform.
Vizzaccaro: “Whatever the sales are, we’re seeing iOS totally dominate the market on the Web.”
Earlier this summer, Google-owned ad firm AdMob reported 57 percent of 43.8 million iOS devices were located outside the United States. For Android, the Google smartphone platform registered 12.7 million worldwide devices, according to AdMob.
