Samsung Smartphone Users Outpace Apple in Web Usage

For the first time, Samsung smartphone users out-surfed their Apple iPhone and iTouch counterparts. Samsung overtook Apple globally in Web usage in June 2013, although by a very small margin, according to a new study published this week.

Yet the mobile Internet war is still far from over. Apple remains the leader in the United States (54.84 percent) and United Kingdom (47.97 percent), but globally, Android-based Samsung mobile devices are rising rapidly. The study, published by StatCounter, found Samsung’s global Internet usage has risen to 25.47 percent, just ahead of Apple’s 25.09 percent.

The news was not as good for Nokia, which dropped from 28.05 percent a year ago to 21.96 percent globally. Samsung is even challenging the company in its home territory of Finland, adding a lot of pressure on the former industry leader.

BlackBerry (formerly RIM) also has declined over 12 months from 5.0 percent to 3.62 percent. The company, however, might find comfort as that number as it is up slightly from 3.48 percent in January 2013, perhaps due to the launch of its new models.

For the first time, Samsung surpassed Apple for mobile browsing usage in StatCounter's June 2013 statistics. Data does not include tablets.

The global mobile operating system (OS) usage statistics have shifted as well, with Android OS also showing strong growth at 37.93 percent, up from 26.53 percent a year ago. Apple’s iOS remains basically unchanged, at 25.09 (slightly down from 25.41 percent a year ago). Nokia’s Series 40 is in third place on 13.43 percent while its Symbian OS has declined to 7.69 percent from 13.47 percent, a drop likely reflecting Nokia’s partnership with Windows Phone in 2011. BlackBerry OS also declined to 3.46 percent from 4.96 percent. And while Windows Phone has doubled over the year from 0.68 percent to 1.4 percent, it still has a ways to go.

Android’s mobile operating system makes strong gains globally, while Apple remains steady in StatCounter's June 2013 statistics. Data does not include tablets.

While the use of mobile devices rose 4 percent over the past 12 months, people still haven’t given up their non-mobile devices for Internet browsing. Non-mobile devices still account for a sizable 83.92 percent of Web usage. StatCounter defines mobile as “a pocket-sized computing device, typically having a display screen with touch input or a miniature keyboard.”

As a result, the company currently places tablets in non-mobile stats, although they are making an effort to change that. “Recognizing the increasing penetration of tablet devices, we have in beta mode new data which will identify tablet share in terms of Internet usage,” the company explains.

StatCounter’s data is based on page views. The company’s usage share stats measure the extent to which a browser or operating system is actually used — so the more usage a browser receives, the higher it will rank in the data.