News

Mobile Report Shows Apple Devices Losing Browser Share

• By David Ramel
• August 19, 2016

In its latest Mobile Web Intelligence Report, DeviceAtlas focused on a drop in Web browser market share for Apple devices.

The company issues quarterly reports on mobile device traffic to Web sites around the world, also providing stats on phone makers and models, screen sizes and resolutions and more.

The Q2 2016 report reveals that "Apple lost users during Q2 2015-Q2 2016 in 18 out of 20 countries analyzed, including the UK (-10 percent), Germany (-6 percent), and USA (-4 percent). During this time gains were seen by Samsung and Huawei."

The report notes that Apple does capture 50 percent or more of Web traffic in several countries even though it sells fewer phones than archrival Samsung, probably because its high-end phones sporting the iOS operating system last longer. Those countries include: Australia, Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia, UK and the United States.

However, the loss of Web traffic share indicates Apple might not hold onto its lead in those countries, according to DeviceAtlas.

"This quarter's Apple device data is especially interesting as Apple prepares for the launch of the next iteration of the iconic iPhone," the company said. "Apple's recent closure of the iAd ecosystem underlines the fact that they need to keep the focus on the hardware."

In contrast, here's the company's commentary about Samsung's Android phones: "Samsung's Web browsing share grew significantly during the last four quarters. We noticed the largest rates of growth, exceeding 10 percent, in France, South Africa, Canada, UK and Australia. The only two countries where Samsung lost between Q2 2015 and Q2 2016 were Saudi Arabia and Egypt."

While the company says its reports are used by advertisers, analytics platforms, Web brands, and others to identify and analyze traffic from various devices active on their sites and networks, they might also serve as a guide to mobile developers considering where to focus their efforts.

The company listed several other highlights from its latest report:

• During Q2 2016 we saw that 4-inch phones are still very popular. In Q2 2016 the 4-inch screen size was the most popular in Canada and the second most popular in France, Italy, Japan, Spain and UK. This popularity is likely due to the iPhone SE released in March 2016 which is now the only widely sold 4-inch device.
• QHD (1440x2560 pixels) is a quality step above Full HD. Devices using QHD resolution, including some new flagship models, show a large global share with growth focused on developed markets.
• Emerging markets get significantly less PPI (Pixels per Inch) than developed countries (possibly the trade-off between large screen size and cost effective pricing)