Comments on: Apple gives up a little Internet usage share

Use of the Mac operating system to access the Web slides a tad, but Apple's iPhone "dominates" the mobile browsing market.

[Chris Grayson]

Steven,

Isn't that headline more than a little misleading. For a six month report, you only look at the final two month drop of a mere two-tenth of one percent. Readers should note the overall 6 month trend shown in the actually report that you don't show:

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=9&qpcustom=Mac

-Chris

[stevenmusil]

Chris, the Net Applications report released Sunday examines February usage. The headline says "Apple gives up a little Internet usage share," which it did. Indeed, the custom report you generated for the past six months reflects a peak in January as well.

[opiapr]

WOW is amazing at how often the same people leave a comment just to complain at the article but this same people always come back to read more. I don't know but if I don't like a news source I look for a new one maybe is that I am a grown up and this people haven't left their mommy and daddy. GO CNET

[Chris Grayson]

Sorry, make that, "one month" decline of two-tenths-of-one-percent in an overall 6 month growth of two-and-a-half percent.

Talk about, "It's all in the way you slice the numbers."

[DrtyDogg]

It is news because their share has been on a steady incline for a while and out of the blue it stalls.

[Perry_Clease]

"It is news because their share has been on a steady incline for a while and out of the blue it stalls."

STALLS? Did it stop or did it "give up a little?"

[rvassar]

These articles are a waste of time. Isn't there anything more interesting or relevant?

[kaibelf]

Obviously not coming from YOUR keyboard.

[AZPunchinBag]

This article was pointless. I actually feel dumber for having read it. Sorry, but this type of "reporting" is a waste of time.

[rhsc]

as opposed to your comment, right?

[saffroncapital]

Don't see how you get that there is strong interest in Windows 7 from this... likely culprit is nerds bashing around and being more likely to be represented in the database of users vs people like myself...

[protagonistic]

As always the numbers can be very misleading. You can put me in the "OS X/Linux/BSD" column, but also as one who is playing around with the Windows 7 beta. However, unless MS drastically reduces the price of the Ultimate version you can also count me as one who will never buy the final product.

I have a feeling that Windows 7 is released you will see the Vista numbers drop like an F-4 with both engines out. :-)

[samkass]

Yeah, I have the Win7 beta installed on a VirtualBox image on my Mac. It's pretty awful-- only someone forced to use Vista would use it instead, IMHO. But I certainly helped the Win7 spike.

[Mr. Dee]

samkass, a comment like that coming from a Mac user like you has no credibility. You are running Windows 7 in a virtualized environment, obviously you are not gonna get the full experience of the OS if you were running it on the physical machine.

[Rolker]

The thing the bothers me most is the title of the column. Windows is clearly the leading OS, but still the focus is on OS X. The gain/lose of the OS X internet usage share is minimal, which as no real impact on the market.
I'm going to say it again, most of the world doesn't use OS X, like it or not. And I just don't understand why so much attention is given to Apple at CNET.
Please, don't get me wrong. the iphone and ipod are great devices. But, except for the ipod, Apple is a small player compared to other companies around the world (Nokia, as an example).

[shootthecops]

the android didnt take long to catch up to symbian, microsoft isnt too far ahead either. embarrassing huh?

[alex-cnet]

Whats even more embarrassing is that Windows Mobile outsells both Android and iPhone, yet... well just look at those numbers! Almost 10x more market share on the iPhone. I guess that browsing is a given with an iPhone, not so much on Windows Mobile.

Side note: Is Java ME what the Blackberry OS runs off of?

[shootthecops]

lol android is on ONE phone, got that ONE phone, been out for a few months, theres no turning this victory around lol.

[dream_fly]

alex-cnet, how many iPhones out there that are free from ATT's mandatory data plan? If you are forced to pay the data plan, you might as well use it.

[seven7dust]

@dream_fly
how do you explain Android's increase with that logic ?
the fact is it's difficult to even use a windows mobile device period
they have a large spec sheets and feature lists
but no one bothers to use thoose features
cause it's hard and painful to use ,
even basic stuff like listening to music on them is a pain
I still don't understand why people buy those monstrosities ?

[CrashPad63]

I think folks are forgetting the IPod touch is using the same browser. You think that just might cool this discussion down a bit?

[saltylaker]

Also, Sun's Solaris operating system has not been referred to as SunOS, well since it was called Solaris well over 10 years ago.

[ewelch]

I suspect an increase by Windows (outside of WIn7) is simply the very quickly selling netbooks that are very popular right now. (Dell just started selling a $199 model ($299 with Windows - can't hide the Windows Tax in those cheapies).

But that's not good news for Windows. The cheap computers are not making Microsoft or the computer makers nearly as much money per unit as Macs are making Apple. That's why Dell is in big trouble right now while Apple is debt-free and has $28 billion in the bank.

Market share is not important, and at best is a misleading indicator of success. Apple beats the tar out of the competition in terms of success per unit.

[BOTNET]

I'm not sure if i agree with you here...

although I get you point, Market share is important

you should not forget that expenses have two components (fixed and variable), higher market share you have, lower average fixed cost per unit you get

with software development, the fixed portion is very high (you need X developers no matter how many copies you sell i- I'm ignoring the underlying architecture between different OS in this comment).

[seven7dust]

this isn't marketshare actually
it's internet usage share and it is quite important
cause it determines the amount of people using a particular O.S
by not releasing a ultra-portable MAC{netbook} Apple
has clearly lost some share !
hopefully this inspires them to stop being arrogant and get one out ASAP !

[Angmarr]

so u like the fact that they over charge u for products .... interesting argument!?

[Perry_Clease]

"by not releasing a ultra-portable MAC{netbook} Apple
has clearly lost some share !"

Yeah, clear as mud.

It is a Mac not a MAC

[carlg113]

wow! 6 percent for android already?

thats really impressive considering its only one one phone right now. and on t-mobile one of the smaller cell providers.

if other manufactures ever start making more android phones there might be some real competition in the mobile space. i am looking forward to that. more competition means better products for all!

[random truth]

The iphone is only one phone and it has over 60% of the mobile internet traffic. Non-theless it is impressive. I bet that it would have been at least double if google could have got it on a better carrier that t-mobile

[thelemurking]

Actually it's on 2 phones, iPhone gen1 and the gen2 3G... plus you got to take into account for the iPod Touch.

[seven7dust]

Wat about the blackberry figures ?
there's talk of it's share increasing but is it really that low that it's clubbed in other ?

[Drew.0]

As common as things like user agent spoofing are on windows mobile, it's likely these results are not entirely accurate, although i would agree that the majority of WM sales of previous years were not focused on the browser experience.

[3rdalbum]

Android's 6% of the mobile browsing market is an indication that Net Applications needs to look at its methods of gathering data. Linux definitely has much more than 1% of the browsing market as well!

[jz33040]

All I can say is that I've been on Windows 7 beta and it's really solid. I haven't seen one crash and it's been up for about a week. I think microsoft has finally hit the sweet spot between XP and Vista. I look forward to having the full version when it comes out. I also find that browsing the web for days on end has been really smooth.

[opiapr]

WOW is amazing at how often the same people leave a comment just to complain at the article but this same people always come back to read more. I don't know but if I don't like a news source I look for a new one maybe is that I am a grown up and this people haven't left their mommy and daddy. GO CNET

[iBuzz]

Don't many Blackberries go through corporate/proxy servers to get access to the Internet? Would this explain the absence of Blackberry devices?

[therealgeeves]

I wonder if the millions of virus infected windows OS machines constantly accessing the net, completing forms with rubbish data, etc. are distorting the figures?

[AJ Pants]

I just got a brand new laptop via my job They don't support Macs at my school where I work.

It runs XP. Let me just say that using it is like taking a step back 10 years. It is the slowest, most pedestrian operating system imaginable. It takes three times as many steps to do the most basic stuff.

It blows my mind that Windows still has that high of a market share.

[sanenazok]

Everything about academia sucks, apparently including their purchasing. Get a job where the purchasing is handled by someone competent.

[flipper51ca]

How much of that internet usage comes from microsoft users looking for patches and repairs? How much of it is from PC repair personnel fixing PC computers? Is there anyway of determining enriching activity versus patchwork? It might change the data.

[sanenazok]

There's no way to test "the Internet." Instead the stats are gathered at only certain mainstream websites. Yes that excludes patch ones. Heck if all you looked at was the online xbox site then the world would come back as 100% xbox. The sites selected for the study are supposed to be useful to all platforms, i.e. news, e-mail, etc.

[Angmarr]

AMEN ... Its just that Apple is ""supposed"" to be the COOL thing ROFL. Im not a GINORMOUS fan of Windows, but it sure beats apple for me! But ya like u said, it just that people hate the leader, too bad that there isnt a real competitor for windows that is actually good (as in not over priced, or flashy... i mean actually good) And i dont mean Linux, thats not user friendly

[Angmarr]

just compare the titles LOL
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/41581/113/
http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/03/01/apples-net-share-slipped-in-february/
http://www.slashgear.com/apple-os-x-market-share-drops-in-feb-as-vista-use-rises-0236001/

a 3 year old can tell BIAS LOLOL

[Perry_Clease]

Is English your second language?

[zap_branigan]

I love the new MSfanboy war cry... "Apple is cool" , " Apple is just a marketing company"

And yet when I see an apple commercial its either a quick demo of the products or the I'm a mac I'm a pc ads... but then I see a dell commercial where a guy carrying a dell laptop has everyone in the street patting his butt and following him like hes the coolest kid ever.. ending with some hot chick just walking up and kissing him... as if to say that because he has a dell he is in fact cool... never once shows off the product in that commercial... or how about all the HP commercials... starring, Jay-Z, or Fergie, or Sean White.. and so on.. all touting how cool HP is with the fancy graphics playing out on the tv screen.. not the computer ofcourse. That kind of advertising seems to be more geared to the "cool kids"

Those of us that have been using macs for a while can attest to the fact that in the past being a mac user never gained the label of being cool.. usually we were just degraded by the MS fanboys.

Price wise the only arguement you can stand on is that apple doesnt make a POS sub $600 computer. So sorry.. apple is not a commodity computer company. They Make solid equipment and software.. they research how to make the computer better... not just slap the components together that come with the cookie cutter computer building manual.. This is how mac users get unibody laptops.. or batteries that outlast the rest of the industry... they work to improve the computer experience from soup to nuts.

With that said everyone has the right to choose. You can choose a mac.. or you can choose some lowballed PC thats cursed from the start because it comes with bloatware windows.. and lucky you.. doesnt matter who you choose to get your windows box from.. they are all exactly the same computer with a different manufacturer logo on it.