According to analytics and internet market research firm Net Applications, browsing figures are again throwing up some surprises. The organisation stated that mobile browsing has for the first time exceeded 10 per cent in its sample, which "actually underestimates the total amount of browsing share on mobile devices, since our sample does not contain data on apps, like maps". Vincent Vizzaccaro of EVP Marketing, suggested the influx of new devices perhaps accounted for the surge and was an ongoing trend: "With the new iPad mini, iPhone 5, Kindle Fires, Samsung Galaxy devices, along with an expected strong push by the new Microsoft Surface, the growth in mobile and tablet usage compared to desktop usage should continue to grow rapidly for the foreseeable future."
On the desktop, too, there were some surprises. IE9 has surpassed a 50 per cent share on Windows 7 in the US, and IE as a whole still holds over half of the overall market. Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera either had minor recent losses or remained essentially static in terms of share, although Net Applications noted Chrome prerendering is becoming more prevalent, now accounting for 11.1 per cent of its sample of websites – way up from 4.3 percent in February.
