Continuing the confusing trend of Android dominating in market share but iOS continuing to lead -- by huge margin -- in mobile web usage share, both Apple's iPhone and the iPad reportedly eclipsed Google's Android in Thanksgiving and Black Friday online shopping use over the last few days. This according to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmarks:
Mobile Shopping: Mobile purchases soared with 24 percent of consumers using a mobile device to visit a retailer's site, up from 14.3 percent in 2011. Mobile sales exceeded 16 percent, up from 9.8 percent in 2011.
The iPad Factor: The iPad generated more traffic than any other tablet or smartphone, reaching nearly 10 percent of online shopping. This was followed by iPhone at 8.7 percent and Android 5.5 percent. The iPad dominated tablet traffic at 88.3 percent followed by the Barnes and Noble Nook at 3.1 percent, Amazon Kindle at 2.4 percent and the Samsung Galaxy at 1.8 percent.
We've seen this again and again, iOS web usage reports that dwarf the competition. Tablets, of course, are understandable. Apple is the market leader. The iPhone, however, while often the best selling phone in many markets, doesn't outsell all other phones -- or all Android phones -- combined in the market.
So what explains the discrepancy? Do people upgrading from feature phones to a cheap or big screen Android simply keep using it as a feature phone and not bother with things like web browsers? Is the web browsing experience on Android somehow less discoverable or enjoyable? Do expert users simply not care to use the web?
None of those explanations make sense. Chrome on Android is easy to find and easy to use. So why aren't Android users using it?
Maybe that's the wrong question. Maybe the right question is why are iPhone and iPad users using the web so much? What is it about Apple's products that make using the web so much more discoverable and enjoyable?
