Apple up, down in end-of-year report

Now that 2009 is officially behind us, web metrics firm Net Applications has released their final report of the year, which finds Apple up in some areas and down in others. Specifically, the iPhone OS has grown significantly, while Chrome has surpassed Safari.

The iPhone jumped to 0.43 percent of the total OS market in December, a 20% increase over November and the largest monthly gain since its introduction. While holiday sales estimates are still unavailable, its expected that the quarter's numbers will eclipse the previous quarter's record-breaking 7.4 million units sold.

At the same time, usage of Google's Chrome web browser has exceeded that of Apple's Safari for the first time. As for alternatives to the nearly-ubiquitous Internet Explorer, Firefox is first, Chrome second and Safari third, according to Net Applications. Specifically, Chrome is now at 4.63 percent of browser share and Safari is at 4.46 percent.

The novelty of Chrome probably plays into these numbers, but it's also a nice product. I've been using it on Windows and Mac OS X (in beta, of course) and found it snappy and responsive.

Overall this is a positive report for Apple. Here's to 2010.