Post-PC era is REAL for U.S. Apple users

Today, comScore started a new service that ranks the top U.S. websites by desktop and mobile views -- the latter is a new measurement. Some of them really pop off the chart, with Apple glaring among traditional companies. More than one-third of unique visitors in February accessed the site via mobile device-only. That compares to 5 percent for Microsoft properties. Analysts, bloggers and journalists often portray the fruit-logo company as best representative of the so-called Post-PC era, and Windows' maker the epoch in decline.

The numbers aren't shocking, if you think about them. Windows has little presence on smartphones or tablets. Microsoft mobile OS smartphones share was just 3 percent during fourth quarter, according to Gartner. IDC forecasts Windows tablet market share, based on unit shipments, will be less than 5 percent this year. By comparison, iOS has greater reach, with, according to the company, cumulative shipments exceeding 500 million. Hell, Apple sold 43.5 million iPhones just in Q4, according to Gartner.

That's where the numbers get wonky. Microsoft's presence is so low, comScore ignores it. The data only compiles from Android and iOS users. So, looked at differently, is it surprising that Microsoft has such low showing from mobile users on devices running competing operating systems?

Apple's showing is surprising and yet not. Cofounder Steve Jobs aggressively promoted the post-PC concept, and the company incorporates it into all iOS devices. Of course, not everyone going to the company's web properties does from iOS. But there are enough core users out there to make reasonable assumptions about broader trends.

Some of the other numbers are worth a gander. Mobile-only to Google sites is surprisingly low: 13.7 percent. Remember, the numbers include search and other services, and Google is all about the cloud. Amazon is 21.5 percent mobile-only and Facebook is 16.8 percent.

For the broader U.S. market, just 6 percent of total unique "digital population" views come from mobile-only, which makes the percentage for Apple -- and also Amazon -- really stand out. Services that strongly cater to mobile audiences are unsurprising, by comparison. Groupon and Pandora are 69 percent and 64.6 percent, respectively.

The comScore chart below also provides non-exclusive mobile and desktop numbers. The mobile-only figures show how few Americans have truly gone Post-PC and suggests that among them, Apple users are considerably higher than average.

Photo Credit: jkirsh/Shutterstock