iPhone, Mac Web Browsing Rose Dramatically In DecemberiPhone, Mac Web Browsing Rose Dramatically In December

Using an Apple Mac or iPhone for Web browsing? More people are, according to a Web metrics firm's report issued Wednesday. Internet browser traffic from Apple products rose significantly in December, with the increase in the last two days of the month.

The Mac accounted for 7.31% of all the systems accessing the Web in the last month of the year, compared to 6.8% in November, according to Net Applications, which monitors traffic at 40,000 sites worldwide. The iPhone's market share rose to 0.12% from 0.09% the previous month.

The last two days of December showed an even bigger boost in market share, with the Mac accounting for 8.01% of Web browsing and the iPhone 0.17%. "Apple's market share gains in December for the Mac and iPhone are impressive," Net Applications said in a posting on its Web site. "However, for the last days of December, the numbers are nothing short of spectacular."

Apple's market share in December amounted to a 7.5% increase over November for the Mac, and 33% for the iPhone, Net Applications said. In the last two days of December, the Mac's share amounted to an 18% increase, while the iPhone saw an 89% jump.

Country-by-country, the iPhone's market share was also impressive in the last two days of the year. In the United States, 0.27% of the systems browsing the Web were iPhones; in the United Kingdom, it was 0.11%; and in France, 0.10%.

Net Applications said the numbers didn't include site visitors using Windows on Mac hardware via Apple Boot Camp or other programs that enable the use of Windows and OS X on Apple hardware. "Therefore, these numbers actually understate the market share for the Mac," the company said. "We have no way of telling by how much, however."

Apple's share of the U.S. computer market, based on unit-volume sales at retailers, is also growing. The Mac accounted for 9% of sales from January through October, compared to 6% in 2006, according to The NPD Group.

The iPhone, on the other hand, jumped to the No. 2 spot in the third quarter in the U.S. smartphone market with a 27% share, according to industry analyst firm Canalys.