Although Google’s Android mobile operating system is the ruler of the smartphone world, with its market share of over 80%, when it comes to internet traffic it fails to overtake its main competitor. At least in the US, according to Gene Munster, managing director and senior research analyst at PiperJaffray, cited by Cnet.com. According to the data, Android’s traffic has fallen in the last few weeks, while iOS has grown since the launch of the iPhone 6 in September.
During the nine weeks following Apple’s launch of the iPhone 6 handsets, the internet traffic registered by devices running Apple’s iOS has grown to 61.4% of the total from 60.6% previously recorded, the data shows. At the same time the records show that Android traffic has decreased from 38.4% previously reported to 37.5% over the same period. The changes might be small, but important – they indicate that Apple’s iPhone OS devices are increasingly adopted by consumers. Users who have switched to Android to benefit of a larger screen are seemingly returning to Apple since the launch of the new, larger iPhone. Android had the upper hand in the big screen handset market in the US, but the launch of the iPhone 6 has changed the situation.
When it comes to the US market share, Android is still in the lead. Still, even before the iPhone 6 was launched, Apple’s iOS had the lead when it came to US web traffic, suggesting that iPhone and iPad owners accessed more content on their devices. “We believe that iOS users are likely more engaged with their phones on a daily basis than Android users. Third, we believe that iOS’ contribution from tablets, which are likely to generate more traffic than a smartphone, is currently greater than Android’s,” Munster told Cnet. PiperJaffray’s Quantcast takes into account over two billion mobile page views each month – an estimated number of around 150 million smartphones on the US market, each getting about 15 pageviews each day.