Aside from the United States where iPhone pulled in just above Android by the end of October, more Android devices are sold worldwide than iPhones and iPads. Despite having more devices out there, however, iOS still dominates Android when it comes to web traffic.

Chitika, an advertising firm, conducted a study on “billions of ad impressions” from May 27, 2012 to November 27, 2012. The firm found that web traffic for iPhone and Android smartphones was about equal but iOS pulled ahead of Android thanks to the iPad, which is the undoubted king of the tablet market at the moment. All in all, iOS web traffic during this time was roughly 65% while Android was around 35%, with a high of 40%.

Seeing as Android proliferates the world, why exactly does iOS dominate in web traffic? Even if the numbers showed them as even, it would still be a win for iOS simply due to the fact that there are more Android devices out there. However, the numbers show iOS on top. Why is this? I can think of three reasons:

• Firstly, people tend to surf the Internet more on tablets than smartphones for the obvious reason — bigger screens. Since iPad dominates the tablet market (Android is catching up, but still plays second fiddle), it would make sense that iOS is on top. More iPads = more web traffic via iOS.
• Secondly, studies show people with iPhones tend to have higher income than others. (Generally speaking.) Higher income typically means people can afford more leisure time, and Internet surfing typically falls in that category. Higher income also means being able to afford wireless data network. Remember part of Android’s growth is driven by entry-level, low-cost handsets. People who purchase these handsets probably don’t purchase wireless data plans or buckets as often as iPhone users.
• Lastly, while Chitika doesn’t mention this explicitly, it looks like their data was for US and Canada only. So this trend may not hold true worldwide.

Whatever the reason, this is another win for Apple.

[via Chitika]