Android, at 11%, pales by comparison. The iPad, per device, is the biggest data hog of all
According to a report released Wednesday by Meraki, a San Francisco-based company that provides wireless networking to 17,000 small and medium-sized organizations, from MIT and UVA to Starbucks and Burger King, 2011 was the year that mobile devices overtook PCs as the major consumers of Wi-Fi data.
In a one-month period in 2010, Microsoft (MSFT) Windows and Apple’s (AAPL) Macs accounted for 63% devices on Meraki’s Wi-Fi networks. In the same month in 2011, 58% of the devices were running iOS or Google’s (GOOG) Android.
In descending order, the devices currently hooking up to Meraki’s Wi-Fi networks, which reach 40 million users in 140 countries around the world, are:
- iPhones (32%)
- Windows (23%)
- Mac OS X (13%)
- iPod touch (11%)
- Android (11%)
- iPad (4%)
- Other (6%)
In terms of data consumption, according to Meraki, the iPad pulls far more than its weight. As the chart above indicates, it gobbles up 400% more Wi-Fi data than the average iPhone, iPod touch or Android phone.
Below: 2010 vs. 2011.
