iPhone takes lead as most popular mobile browser

The wonder gadget developed by Californian kit vendor Apple has overtaken Opera as the most popular mobile browsing platform according to research released this week.

Website traffic tracking firm StatCounter said that the iPhone now has an estimated 24 per cent of the global mobile browser market after overtaking Opera in mid February.

Opera now has 22 per cent of the global market, followed by Nokia’s own browser platform with 18 per cent. But Apple has caught the industry in something of a pincer move, as its iPod Touch device, basically an iPhone without the phone, has racked up a market share of 14 per cent. BlackBerry trails behind with 5.8 per cent of the global market.

Apple’s strategy of targeting consumers with different versions of the same device seems to be paying off in the web browsing stakes at least. In the US, the iPhone and the iPod touch have 36.5 per cent and 25 per cent of the mobile browsing market respectively, followed by BlackBerry with just 13 per cent. In the UK, where Apple has 31 per cent and 20 per cent of the market split between its iPhone and iPod platforms, Nokia is the biggest competitor with 13 per cent followed by BlackBerry with 9.6 per cent and Opera with 7.5 per cent.