Apple's iOS finishes 2011 with 52% share of mobile Web browsing

The latest figures from Net Applications show that iOS represented more than half of mobile devices seen online in December. In second place was Java ME with 21.3 percent, while Android came in third.

Apple's share slid from 54 percent in November of 2011, and is down from its high of 61.5 percent in October. But it's also up from the 46.6 percent share iOS was tracked at in February of 2011.

Coming in fourth in the data was Nokia's Symbian platform, with 5.8 percent, while Research in Motion's BlackBerry holds 3.5 percent. Interestingly, while sales of new BlackBerry devices have been weak, December of 2011 proved to be the best month of the year for RIM.

Breaking down iPhone versus iPad, Apple's smartphone took 25.2 percent to lead all mobile devices. The iPad, though, was the second most popular device, with a 24.5 percent representation.

While Apple dominated in mobile devices browsing the Web in 2011, it's a much different story in the PC market. There, the Mac finished with 6.4 percent in December of 2011, well behind the 92.2 percent share Microsoft held with Windows.

Tracking specific versions of PC operating systems shows that Windows XP, despite being 10 years old, still leads the way with 46.5 percent. Windows 7 is in second with 37 percent, while Windows Vista holds 8.44 percent.

Apple's Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard platform remains its most popular at 3 percent, despite the release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion in July. Lion closed out 2011 with a 2 percent share in December.