iPhone grabs growing share of net access

 

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Posted on 26 Aug 2008 at 09:20

The proportion of internet usage by iPhone owners jumped sharply in the first week of August as the impact of the launch of the new, 3G model began to take effect.

Figures from Net Applications show that in July, the iPhone’s share of internet use increased from 0.16% to 0.19% but in the first week of August it rose by more than half to 0.31%.

Much of that increase seems to have come at the expense of the computer version of Mac OS X, whose share of net access dropped by 0.28% in July. Net Applications speculates that many iPhone users have come to see it not just as a phone — and an iPod - but with its powerful browsing and email capabilities as a direct replacement for a portable Mac.

“Oddly, of the major OS players only Mac OS usage has taken a hit to correspond to the gains of the iPhone,” the research firm notes in its latest fortnightly report. “I find that the iPhone simply adds to the total amount of time I am able to access the Internet and email. But, if that were true for everyone, then the iPhone usage gains should be spread fairly evenly against the other operating systems. This makes me wonder if Apple is worried that the iPhone will dig directly into MacBook sales by becoming a laptop replacement versus simply a cell phone replacement.”

Indeed, the report’s anonymous author is about to embark on a first business trip without a laptop, relying instead on his iPhone. He speculates that this prospect might explain why Apple has limited some of the iPhone’s capabilities — not enabling printing or the editing of Office documents and not providing support for external keyboards.

“I believe by not supporting printing, a keyboard and editing Office documents, Apple may be attempting to make sure you still need a MacBook,” the report concludes.

Author: Simon Aughton