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Today we’ll finish the report on the Q2 2011 mobile browser stats according to StatCounter by treating the six countries with the least mobile browsing market share. Remember that the methodology of the detection changed in late April.
Part 1 appeared last week. Your donation for keeping this series up and running would be much appreciated.
The development of the Mexican mobile market this quarter is curious. The mobile share of all website visits doubled to 6%, Opera gained 20 (twenty) points, while Safari lost 11 and Nokia 6.
That’s a movement one could expect over a year, but it is too much for a single quarter. I suspected a fudging factor, and fortunately David Storey of Opera identified it for me.
The cause of the movement is a hack, discovered in January, that allowed Opera Mini users to get free mobile internet on the T3LC3L network. Predictably, the operator was less than amused and closed the gap in May. (Not really a quick response, but still.)
The month-by-month stats show a big Opera decrease in June, as one would expect. Curiously, the Opera share goes back up again to May levels in July, an occurrence that David confirmed from internal Opera stats. Either T3LC3L has another security hole, or something else has happened.
From the browser statistics it would seem that it was to a large degree a case of iPhone users switching to Opera Mini in order to get free network access. David denied this, though: the iPhone does not appear in Mexico’s most popular Opera Mini devices. Neither Opera’s April nor the June stats for Mexico (go there by hand; no internal anchors) show the iPhone, although Opera hasn’t released the crucial May stats.
David offered the theory that the new Opera Mini users were mostly new surfers, who previously hadn’t wanted to pay for the privilege. That fits with the immense increase in mobile browsing as a whole.
In any case, the huge Opera Mini upsurge and the huge increase in mobile web usage are anomalies. Both will likely shed some market share in Q3, or there’s yet another fudging factor involved.
Stay tuned.
| Browser | Q2 2011 | ch | Q1 2011 | ch | Q4 2010 | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opera | 37% | +20 | 17% | +8 | 9% | |
| Nokia | 23% | -6 | 29% | 0 | 29% | |
| Safari | 15% | -11 | 26% | -4 | 30% | |
| BlackBerry | 9% | -3 | 12% | 0 | 12% | |
| Android | 7% | 0 | 7% | +3 | 4% | |
| Obigo | 2% | +2 | - | - | - | |
| NetFront | 2% | -1 | 3% | -1 | 4% | |
| Sony PSP | 1% | -1 | 2% | -1 | 3% | Play Station Portable. NetFront-based. |
| Sony Ericsson | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% | NetFront-based |
| Samsung | 1% | -1 | 2% | 0 | 2% | Real change 0 |
| Dolfin | 1% | +1 | - | - | - | |
| Other | 1% | 0 | 1% | -5 | 6% | |
| Volatility | 23% | 11% | ||||
| WebKit | 46% | -16 | 62% | -5 | 67% | Safari, Nokia, Android, Dolfin |
| Mobile | 6% | +3 | 3% | +1 | 2% | Mobile browsing as percentage of all browsing |
It’s in Brazil that StatCounter’s revised methodology is most clearly visible. It turns out that Obigo has a 7% market share (counted as unknown desktop browsers until this quarter), and Jasmine 6% (counted as Samsung until this quarter). The NetFront losses are due to a bug and will be corrected in Q3, and the Other market share, which includes Unknown, will go down once more.
Although the Brazilian browser market seems as dynamic as the Mexican, it’s not really. If we discount the changes detailed above nothing much has happened in the past quarter. Nokia lost four points which were picked up by Opera and Android, and several minor browsers made the table due to my more relaxed methodology.
| Browser | Q2 2011 | ch | Q1 2011 | ch | Q4 2010 | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nokia | 32% | -4 | 36% | -2 | 38% | |
| Opera | 23% | +2 | 21% | -8 | 29% | |
| NetFront | 7% | -4 | 11% | +2 | 9% | |
| Obigo | 7% | +7 | - | - | - | |
| Jasmine | 6% | +6 | - | - | - | |
| Android | 6% | +1 | 5% | +2 | 3% | |
| Motorola | 4% | -2 | 6% | +2 | 4% | Not Android. Could be Opera, could be something Brew-based. |
| Safari | 3% | -1 | 4% | 0 | 4% | |
| Samsung | 3% | -9 | 12% | +6 | 6% | Real change -2 |
| Openwave | 1% | -1 | 2% | 0 | 2% | |
| Dolfin | 1% | +1 | - | - | - | |
| Bolt | 1% | 0 | 1% | -1 | 2% | WebKit-based proxy browser |
| Sony Ericsson | 1% | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| BlackBerry | 1% | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Other | 4% | +2 | 2% | -1 | 3% | |
| Volatility | 21% | 12% | ||||
| WebKit | 42% | -16 | 58% | +5 | 53% | Safari, Nokia, Dolfin, Android, Bolt |
| Mobile | 3% | +1 | 2% | 0 | 2% | Mobile browsing as percentage of all browsing |
In China the UC proxy browser continues to lose terrain, and this quarter it’s mainly Nokia that profits. This sounds counter-intuitive: why would proxy browser users switch to a non-proxy browser that’s neither Safari nor Android?
One theory is that what’s called “Nokia” here is not Nokia WebKit but the Gecko-based Ovi proxy browser whose roll-out Nokia has started in Q1. Currently StatCounter detects Ovi as Nokia. I requested a change here
Another possibility is that certain UC browsers are misdetected as Nokia; I found such an issue and reported it to StatCounter.
Other than that the market is pretty static: Safari picks up a point from Opera, but that’s about it. I think the Chinese struggle is proxy browser vs. proxy browser, with, oddly, Opera not really taking part.
| Browser | Q2 2011 | ch | Q1 2011 | ch | Q4 2010 | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC | 53% | -10 | 63% | -5 | 68% | Proxy browser with its own rendering engine |
| Nokia | 25% | +10 | 15% | -1 | 16% | |
| Safari | 13% | +1 | 12% | +5 | 7% | |
| Android | 4% | 0 | 4% | +2 | 2% | |
| Opera | 2% | -1 | 3% | 0 | 3% | |
| Sony Ericsson | 1% | 0 | 1% | -1 | 2% | NetFront-based |
| Samsung | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% | |
| Other | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% | |
| Volatility | 11% | 7% | ||||
| WebKit | 42% | +10 | 32% | +6 | 26% | Safari, Nokia, Android |
| Mobile | 3% | +1 | 2% | 0 | 2% | Mobile browsing as percentage of all browsing |
In the Netherlands Safari continues to lead, but also continues to lose ground to Android. Other than that not much happens. I’m as patriotic as the next guy, but even I must admit that my own browser market is bloody boring. As such it’s a good example of the average Western market (except the US and UK).
| Browser | Q2 2011 | ch | Q1 2011 | ch | Q4 2010 | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safari | 50% | -3 | 53% | +1 | 52% | |
| Android | 32% | +5 | 27% | +4 | 23% | |
| Nokia | 7% | -1 | 8% | -3 | 11% | |
| BlackBerry | 5% | +1 | 4% | -1 | 5% | |
| Opera | 3% | -1 | 4% | 0 | 4% | |
| Dolfin | 1% | +1 | - | - | - | |
| Samsung | 1% | -1 | 2% | 0 | 2% | Real change 0 |
| Other | 1% | -1 | 2% | -1 | 3% | |
| Volatility | 7% | 5% | ||||
| WebKit | 90% | 0 | 90% | +2 | 88% | Safari, Nokia, Android, Dolfin, 10% of BlackBerry |
| Mobile | 3% | +1 | 2% | 0 | 2% | Mobile browsing as percentage of all browsing |
Egypt, too, is a stable mobile browser market. Nokia loses two points, Safari and Android pick up one, the detection change has some points changing hands, and that’s it. Yawn.
| Browser | Q2 2011 | ch | Q1 2011 | ch | Q4 2010 | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opera | 61% | 0 | 61% | 0 | 61% | |
| Nokia | 26% | -2 | 28% | -2 | 30% | |
| Safari | 5% | +1 | 4% | +1 | 3% | |
| BlackBerry | 2% | 0 | 2% | +1 | 1% | |
| Android | 2% | +1 | 1% | +1 | 0% | |
| NetFront | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% | |
| Jasmine | 1% | +1 | - | - | - | |
| Dolfin | 1% | +1 | - | - | - | |
| Samsung | 1% | -1 | 2% | +1 | 1% | Real change +1 |
| Other | 0 | -1 | 1% | -2 | 3% | |
| Volatility | 4% | 4% | ||||
| WebKit | 34% | -1 | 35% | +2 | 33% | Safari, Nokia, Dolfin, Android |
| Mobile | 2% | 0 | 2% | 0 | 2% | Mobile browsing as percentage of all browsing |
Superficially, Poland has seen more action than the Netherlands and Egypt combined. Unfortunately most of the action comes from the methodology change. I will not give an analysis this quarter but wait until next.
| Browser | Q2 2011 | ch | Q1 2011 | ch | Q4 2010 | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opera | 55% | -1 | 56% | +3 | 53% | |
| Android | 14% | +1 | 13% | +3 | 10% | |
| Nokia | 9% | -1 | 10% | -2 | 12% | |
| Safari | 9% | -1 | 10% | -1 | 11% | |
| NetFront | 4% | 0 | 4% | -3 | 7% | |
| Dolfin | 3% | +3 | - | - | - | |
| Bolt | 1% | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | WebKit-based proxy browser |
| Samsung | 1% | -3 | 4% | +1 | 3% | Real change +1 |
| Jasmine | 1% | +1 | - | - | - | |
| Sony PSP | 1% | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Obigo | 1% | +1 | - | - | - | |
| LG | 1% | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dunno |
| Other | 0 | -3 | 3% | -1 | 4% | |
| Volatility | 9% | 7% | ||||
| WebKit | 35% | -2 | 37% | +1 | 36% | Safari, Nokia, Android, Dolfin |
| Mobile | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% | Mobile browsing as percentage of all browsing |
Finally, a quick overview of the Big Five in the twelve selected countries.
| Country | Safari | ch | Opera | ch | Nokia | ch | Android | ch | Black |
ch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | - | - | 90% | +5 | 5% | -1 | - | - | - | - |
| India | 1% | +1 | 57% | -3 | 26% | 0 | 1% | +1 | - | - |
| Indonesia | - | - | 49% | +1 | 14% | -1 | 3% | +3 | 28% | -1 |
| South Korea | 6% | -6 | - | - | - | - | 93% | +7 | - | - |
| US | 36% | -1 | 2% | 0 | 4% | +2 | 32% | +3 | 21% | -3 |
| UK | 38% | -3 | 3% | 0 | 3% | 0 | 14% | +1 | 39% | +2 |
| Mexico | 15% | -11 | 37% | +20 | 23% | -6 | 7% | 0 | 9% | -3 |
| Brazil | 3% | -1 | 23% | +2 | 32% | -4 | 6% | +1 | 1% | +1 |
| China | 13% | +1 | 2% | -1 | 25% | +10 | 4% | 0 | - | - |
| Netherlands | 50% | -3 | 3% | -1 | 7% | -1 | 32% | +5 | 5% | +1 |
| Egypt | 5% | +1 | 61% | 0 | 26% | -2 | 2% | +1 | 2% | 0 |
| Poland | 9% | -1 | 55% | -1 | 9% | -1 | 14% | +1 | - | - |
This is the blog of Peter-Paul Koch, web developer, consultant, and trainer.
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