Figures published by Intellitracker, which specialises in website and online marketing optimisation has released figures that show that although there is a significant increase in the number of people using mobile devices to access the internet, this is “almost entirely due” to the success of the iPhone. 

According to Intellitracker’s figures, the proportion of visitors accessing UK websites via a mobile device has risen from 1.5 per cent to 3.6 per cent over the past 12 months. In the same period iPhone use (to access websites) has increased by almost eight times, whilst its nearest rival, the BlackBerry, has only doubled. Intellitracker adds that at the end of April 2010, the iPhone was used to access websites by seven times more people than any other mobile device.

“This is not a mobile revolution, its an iPhone revolution,” says Intellitracker director of sales and marketing, David Hudson. “The growth in iPhone usage has outstripped all other mobile devices for some time now, but since Christmas, the rate of growth has been exceptional. Almost two thirds of all mobile visitors to UK websites now use an iPhone to do so. Web developers worried about designing for mobile visitors wouldnt be far wrong if they focussed all of their efforts on the iPhone.”

The figures show a dip in the number of mobile visitors during both the Christmas and Easter holidays. Interestingly however, the number of non-mobile visitors reduced much more than the number of visitors using mobile devices, meaning that the proportion of mobile users increased during these periods.

After Christmas, when both Orange and Vodafone gained access to the iPhone, the rate of growth of iPhone use increased significantly. So far, says Intellitracker, this increased rate of growth shows no sign of slowing.