News: StatCounter - Android browser leads mobile web charge

Web analytics firm StatCounter’s latest desktop browser figures recently revealed that Google’s Chrome is utilised by one in three web surfers, and now its mobile browser stats show that the Android browser is king of the mobile net surfing jungle as well.

According to StatCounter, the Android browser is utilised by 23.16% of users that access the web via their smartphones and other mobile devices. Biting at the Android browser’s robotic heels is Apple’s Safari mobile browser with 21.46% of mobile net traffic being generated via iPhone users, whilst a further 3.53% is snapped up by iPod touch users.

Taking third place is Opera Software, with its Opera Mini and Mobile browsers earning it a 19.41% share of the global mobile browser market as of July 2012, although this is down from 21.42% in June. Rounding out the top 5 is Nokia and its 10.14% stake courtesy of the Symbian browser, and the UCBrowser, with its 8.18% share of the mobile browser pie.

At the periphery we find RIM’s (Research In Motion’s) BlackBerry browser with a 4.71% worldwide mobile browser stake, keeping company with the NetFront mobile browser and its 3.85% share.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats - Mobile Browser Market Share

Africa

Regionally the mobile browser picture looks quite different to the global scene, with Opera Software dominating the mobile browsing landscape within Africa. The firm’s mobile browsers are employed by a whopping 62.37% of the mobile net surfing populus, with Nokia finishing a distant second with a 16.47% stake.

Completing the top 3 is the Android browser and its 6.53% share, again closely followed by iPhone users providing the Safari mobile browser with a 4.62% stake.

Even though RIM’s BlackBerry smartphone are quite popular in South Africa as well as the African continent, the BlackBerry browser once again finds itself on the fringes, this time claiming less than 1% (0.95%) market share.

In related news, Opera Software recently released its latest State of the Mobile Web Report, showing that Africa is in the midst of a mobile web browsing transformation, with 25 out of 53 countries (47%) on the African continent having international news sites as their most popular sources of news and information.

StatCounter - Android browser leads mobile web charge

Related Articles

Most Read Articles

Have Your Say