iPhone trounces rivals in mobile browsing market

The iPhone dominates the mobile browsing market

Apple's iPhone is responsible for nearly two thirds of all mobile browser traffic, according to a recent survey.

The latest data from traffic monitoring firm Net Applications shows that the iPhone has 66.61 per cent of the mobile browsing market. The next closest competitor was the Java ME platform with just 9.06 per cent, followed by Windows Mobile with 6.91 per cent.

Google's open source Android platform, launched just five months ago, has already made an impact on the mobile browser market. The operating system grabbed a 6.15 per cent market share, the same as the Symbian platform.

"Although the iPhone has a commanding lead in mobile browsing share, Android and BlackBerry are rapidly gaining," said Net Applications.

The month-over-month numbers show that the iPhone's overall share is actually smaller, though that may not necessarily mean bad news for Apple.

"This does not mean that iPhone web browsing is shrinking, because the overall market is growing rapidly," the report explained.

Net Applications estimates that, over the past month, mobile browsing grew from 0.69 to 0.72 per cent of all browser traffic.