Skip to Content

Mac internet share hits record 8.87%

by Robert Palmer Dec 1st 2008 at 5:00PM

Apple 2.0's Philip Elmer-DeWitt notes some new Net Applications statistics that suggest 8.87 percent of all Internet users use a Mac: a new record.

Add to that the iPhone platform's 0.37 percent, and over one in eleven use an Apple product to browse the web. The iPhone gained 12 percent more users compared to the month before.

Also notable is that Windows users accounted for less than 90 percent of Internet users for the first time in recent memory. Also, market share for Internet Explorer dropped below 70 percent for the first time since its popularity surged in the late 90s.

Linux also gained ground, increasing almost 17 percent to 0.83 percent of all Internet users.

Net Applications tracks statistics from over 160 million visits to websites it monitors. The full report is here.



View Tags

Related Stories

Categories

Analysis / Opinion Internet

Apple 2.0's Philip Elmer-DeWitt notes some new Net Applications statistics that suggest 8.87 percent of all Internet users use a Mac: a new...
 

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

21 Comments

Filter by:
Sam

Is this a good thing or a bad thing as a mac user? I mean the current state of malware in the OS X kingdom is mainly down to the fact that people aren't bothered to try and attack macs because their not a big enough target. It has been said that it would be more difficult to attack macs with malware than Windows but where there's a will there's a way. So with a growing market share, does this start to make macs a target? Does it mean we'll eventually get stuck with the same virus problems that windows has?


Sam
http://gadgetsgamesandstuff.blogspot.com

December 02 2008 at 10:26 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Thanh Nguyen

Is it me, or did you guys post a 17% to 0.83% increase?
Linux is magical, but I don't think that's an increase. You'll probably want to change that to 0.17%.

December 02 2008 at 6:18 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Thanh Nguyen's comment
tdowling

I think that's a 17% increase relative to their previous market share. Like if you increase a 10% share by 50%, then you have 15%, not 60%.

December 02 2008 at 7:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Crankcaller

I'm not trolling in any way shape or form but...
I wonder how many are osx86 hackintosh boxes?

Obviously the *vast* majority are real, but I wonder what % are fake.
iDeneb has been downloaded 30000 times on one tracker alone.
just a thought.

December 02 2008 at 5:32 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ronny

mac rocks

similar -

Must Know : Using Mac as a WiFi adapter for XBOX 360 with AirPort Extreme -

http://www.techreviews4u.com/?p=2340

December 02 2008 at 2:04 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
don synstelien

Yes, exactly.

How many of those windows users are surfing through Bootcamp, parallels, Fusion, or some other form of what should appear as a windows box, but in in reality piece of Cupertino hardware.

And does anyone else think that the iPhone reaching almost a half perent of all web surfing is simply amazing?

-Don

December 01 2008 at 10:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to don synstelien's comment
Jash Sayani

So what if people are using BootCamp and Parallels. They are still using Windows. This chart shows the OS usage and not the hardware share.

December 02 2008 at 9:21 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
don synstelien

actually, since browser share does not show what machine is being used, but only the OS that is hosting thr browser, I wonder how many of those windows users are actually surfing on a Mac?

If 50% of Mac buyers are switchers... Well, that could add substantially to the numbers.

-Don

December 01 2008 at 6:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to don synstelien's comment
tdowling

Do you mean that you're wondering how many people are using a Mac, but using IE via Fusion/Parallels/Wine?

December 01 2008 at 7:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Cory

This pie chart is win especially because it includes the Linux sliver.

December 01 2008 at 5:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Cory's comment
Jash Sayani

Exactly. Mac and Windows are not the only platforms, Theres also Linux....

December 02 2008 at 9:20 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kinto

i spend 40+ hrs p/w at work on a windows box (with a lot of downtime surfing) but am exclusively mac at home (and usually don't surf too much there.)

so for accuracy the number should be adjusted to around 8.8700001 =)

December 01 2008 at 5:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to kinto's comment
Paul

To kinto:

You're probably included in the two graphs at the bottom of the linked article. They show daily variation in OS X and iPhone share. The peaks coincide with weekends so are a nice view of personal vs work computer usage.

There's a peak of 10.25% (approx) in OS X on 11/29 (a Saturday) vs 8% on 11/26 (the Wednesday before Thanksgiving)

December 01 2008 at 6:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ChrisM70

1. Apple has a the biggest market share ever.
2. iPhones are hugely popular
3. Apple continues to make products that are revolutionary.
4. iPhones are going to be sold at Wal-Mart
5. OS X operating systems if probably the most stable OS there is.
6. iTunes sells more music than anyone else.

So why does my Apple stock keep dropping???!?!

December 01 2008 at 5:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
7 replies to ChrisM70's comment
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.