iOS continues to top Android in mobile Web traffic

For the third week of July, iOS grabbed 63 percent of the traffic across 70 mobile Web sites, while Android scooped up 28 percent, says analyst Gene Munster.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer

Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.

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Lance Whitney

July 22, 2013 9:43 a.m. PT

2 min read

Android holds the dominant market share in the U.S., but Apple's iOS is tops at generating mobile Web traffic, according to Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster.

Tracking data across 70 different mobile Web site, Munster's team found that iOS's slice of traffic rose 2.6 percent over the past four weeks, giving it a 63 percent share. Over the same time, Android's cut rose 0.2 percent to give it a 28 percent share.

In an investors note released Monday, the analyst cited three reasons why he thinks Apple leads in mobile traffic.

Pointing to iOS's 80 percent share of smartphone sales in the first quarter through AT&T and 50 percent in the second quarter via Verizon, Munster said he believes iOS is the most popular smartphone platform in the U.S.

The analyst also feels that iOS users are "more engaged" with their phones than are Android users. Finally, iOS's share is boosted by tablets, which are likely to snag more Web traffic than do smartphones, says Munster. And Apple's iPad still holds the market lead over Android tablets.

So, is iOS now the most popular smartphone platform in the U.S.? Not according to other research reports, at least the latest ones available.

Android won 52 percent of all U.S. smartphone sales from March through April, Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said on July 8. Over the same time, iOS earned 41.9 percent of those sales. For the three months ending May, ComScore pegged Android with a 52 percent market share and iOS with 39 percent.