Tablet Traffic: Samsung, Microsoft Gain, iPad Remains Dominant

Ahead of the holiday shopping frenzy, ad network Chitika is releasing its semi-regular report on the tablet usage in North America. The iPad remains far and away the traffic leader, though Samsung and Microsoft have seen year over year usage gains.

Market share figures from Gartner and IDC show the iPad losing share to Android tablets. But those data are based on shipments, not actual sales or usage.

According to Chitika, looking at millions of North American ad impressions in September, iPads were responsible for about 80 (79.9) percent of traffic. That’s down somewhat from 81 percent last year.

Samsung saw a nearly 1 percent (0.9 percent) gain during the same period. Microsoft grew 0.6 percent. Chitika clarified that the Microsoft gains do not include Surface Pro models but are a result of Surface 2 sales and usage. Had Surface Pro been included I suspect the numbers would be larger.

The Verizon branded Android tablet, introduced in 2013, also saw traction, with now a 0.5 percent share. 

Compare the following StatCounter North American tablet traffic data. The numbers are generally in agreement with the Chitika data:

• Apple/iOS: 78.2 percent
• Android: 15.7 percent
• Linux: 5.1 percent
• All others: 1 percent