iPhone chasing Linux in operating system market share race

Davey Winder
Tuesday, 02 September 2008 03:19

IT Industry - Market

Before the big launch, the Jesus Phone accounted for just 0.16 percent of the operating system market as measured by web browsing usage. After the iPhone 3G hit the streets that global share shot up to 0.3 percent. Linux, meanwhile, currently has a 0.93 percent share...

Anyone who runs a web-based business will occasionally check the stats to check just what browsers people are using when they come and visit. Apart from anything else, these stats can help determine when it is time to stop worrying about supporting the foibles of an old browser client.

However, for some the web browser OS detection is much more interesting as it can provide something of an insight into the global market share of the likes of Microsoft and Apple for example.

Net Applications are one business that uses the web browsing OS detection metric as part of its web analytics routine. On 1st September it released figures showing that the web browsing usage share of the iPhone had jumped by a stonking 58 percent in a single month.

That single month was, of course, August. Which should come as no real surprise given the consumer frenzy that was the launch of the iPhone 3G on July 11th.

These figures reveal that the month before the iPhone 3G hit the streets the iPhone operating system market share as determined by web browser usage was a mere 0.16 percent. During the month of the launch that climbed to 0.19 percent.

But it was August, once Apple had sorted out the initial teething troubles, that saw the big jump of 58 percent up to 0.3 percent. OK, so it may not be a huge presence but the iPhone 3G has resumed the upward curve rather than the level usage trend the Jesus Phone had fallen into beforehand.

Somehow I do not think that Microsoft will be too concerned, even though its own share is slowly falling. According to Net Applications the Microsoft Windows global operating systems share has dropped to 90.66 percent from 92.49 percent just nine months ago.

Linux, however, might be a little more worried. It has done quite well itself, up to 0.93 percent from 0.5 percent in the same period. But that doesn't, it has to be said, seem all that far ahead of the fledgling iPhone.

Could the iPhone actually catch up with Linux, in terms of this particular metric?