iOS Has Half the Market Share of Mac OS X

Net Applications updated their monthly market share data earlier today.

The operating system chart includes quite a stunning number: iOS now has 2.63% market share, based on the web usage of iOS devices NetApplications was able to capture. It was up from 2.38% in May and is probably not that earth-shattering by itself. However, note that Mac OS X was listed with 5.37%, which means that there are only twice as many browsing the web as iOS devices (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad).

Mac OS was first released in 1984, while Mac OS X was first offered (for client computers) in 2001. iOS came to market in June 2007, or just over four years ago. If iOS keeps growing as it does right now, it will be catching up with the market share of Mac OS X within 10-12 months, which would mean that iOS would have accumulated in about 5 years the same market share as Mac OS did in 28 years.

Windows, by the way, appears to be the operating system that is most affected by iOS growth, as Windows' share declined by 0.4 points to 88.29%. Windows 7 now holds 27.13% share, up from 25.89% in May and Windows XP declined from 52.41% to 51.13%. Combined with the drop of Windows Vista from 9.93% to 9.52%, Windows 7 is not able to pick up the combined loss of its two predecessors.

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5

alidan , July 2, 2011 8:49 PM

guyjonesI don't know if you can really compare desktop OS market share to mobile OS market share; it's sort of apples and oranges. There's no denying that what Apple has achieved with its iOS devices is impressive. The company has gained a lot of market share in a short amount of time with some well-designed devices, a capable OS and intuitive functionality. And it's clear that Microsoft is not going to dominate the mobile space the way it dominated the desktop in the 80's and 90's. Despite its deep pockets, brand awareness and resources, the company has stumbled badly with its mobile strategy, with Ballmer initially haughtily rejecting the idea of the company building its own phones and then turning around 180 degrees and aligning with Nokia in what was essentially a de facto acquisition of the latter company. Microsoft will be lucky to end up with 15% market share in a few years, which would be a feat in itself, considering where they are starting from.Look, wherever one's computing allegiances lie, when all is said and done, all this competition between iOS, Android, Windows Phone and the other offerings is great for the consumer. We get better products at a cheaper prices, reap the fruits of innovation, with more variety of devices to choose from. So, let's savor the fact that the race for mobile dominance is going to be a true multi-candidate competition.

don't count microsoft out. the one thing they do good is play catch up. when they arent number 1, they innovate more than any other company, weather you like the innovations or not is another question (think xbox live, and the ui for xbox).

i can see them kicking ios a$$ in less than 1 year, on a software side, on people using it, it will take about 2 years to really see those numbers due to contracts and iphone bs. if windows 8 can relay interface with everything, than i would have to lean towards windows phone, even over an established app store.

and lastly, the reason windows 7 isnt picking up as much as people leaving xp or vista is simple, we see windows 8. if we have to re learn an os, may as well go linux if you can, at least when that changes the way the os feels stays the same, and even if it changes, you can bet your a$$ you can mod it back exactly how you want it.
5

reggieray , July 2, 2011 7:23 PM

The only thing I see in the OS X Lion (iOS on steroids) is trim support, other than that Apple can keep Lion. My Snow Leopard is working just fine. Plus the fact Apple expects me to do a 4 Gb download from the app store for it, No DVD available, I say FU Apple.
Apple is heading down a path I don't like (iOS and app store for everyone) and when my Macbook gives up the ghost one day it's time to go back to Ubuntu.
2

dalethepcman , July 6, 2011 12:22 AM

sykozis... if other Android tablets are anything like mine ... Android 2.2 is the worst OS I've ever dealt with. My Android tablets takes, on average, 5mins to load the OS...

I cut out the rest of your whining. I have one single question. Why the hell did you buy an android 2.2 tablet? Would you buy an iOs macbook, or a windows XP phone? Android 2.2 is for phones, not tablets. I know some jump the gun manufacturers put it on tablets, but they should have waited, and so should have you.

iOS Has Half the Market Share of Mac OS X

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