iPhone Browsing Market Share Shows Importance of Usability

Net Applications reports that in November 2007, iPhone browsing market share was 0.09% -- nearly 0.1% -- of all browsers in their sample. Now that may not seem like much until you compare it with the share for all Windows Mobile/Windows CE devices, which only tip the scales at 0.06%. Said another way, the approximately 2.5 million iPhones sold to date are being used about five times more than the nearly 7 million Windows Mobile phones sold over the past six years.

Don't think this usability matters? SAP does; it is delivering its new CRM package to iPhones ahead of more business-oriented phones like RIM's Blackberry. And I think that's smart -- after all, SAP is simply targeting the platform that gets used more on the Web. And usability drives use.

Comments

[Nimish Mehta]

Carl - Blackberry usage in businesses is substantially higher than iPhone usage in businesses. SAP's move doesn't make sense given that most of it's CRM users are likely to be sales and marketing people - who tend to use Blackberrys are their primary work-related mobile device vs iPhone.

I don't get how you conclude your second paragraph from your first one. Can you please help connect the dots on why windows mobile and iPhone browsing behavior translates to SAP's decision to release CRM capability on iPhone AHEAD of Blackberry? Just because iPhone used more for web browsing than windows mobile devices?

Thanks,

[kellyii20]

It is simply based on usability... The Iphone has the better full blown operating system on the Iphone, as we all know. Windows OS obviously can't compete with a obviously more superior operating system, Leopard. Which helps to directly translate into more eyes on the various sites online. Which is ultimately what really matters in the end. Not how many business people are CURRENTLY using the inferior OS on the Crackberry.

[Dan Poarch]

Agreed. NM, you miss the point. SAP picked the better web platform, not the larger installed base. Basing their decision making on where the experience is better, to better enhance their own product. A smart decision, time will tell how wise.

[Nimish Mehta]

Yes, I agree on the usability argument. There's no comparison between the OS's either (and yes I use an iPhone too).

That said, we shouldn't forget that almost all of SAP users are people who work for large F500 companies (and this newly announced CRM module is a integrated to their large company ERP offering only anyway). These large company users use blackberrys not iPhones for work related stuff. iPhones don't work with Corporate exchange servers and VPN connections and so on. So it just seems like a very strange decision for SAP to FIRST support the iPhone BEFORE spporting the Blackberry... anyway time will tell it was a wise one or not.

[Lucmee]

What does SAP know that you don't? I suspect that there are lots and lots of CEO's poking their IT crews in the eye about making their iPhones work in the corporate environment. SAP smells the pot boiling and they know that "dinner will soon be served." iPhones and iPhone like devices are the wave of the future and usage will (is) grow exponentially. I've personally brought over 22 people to the mac os experience just this year. And they all very largely sold themselves... Now multiply me by 50,000...