Chitika says Apple’s new desktop OS is installed on almost half of the Macs out there

Mar 28, 2014 12:51 GMT  ·  By

Online advertising network and research company Chitika has released a report according to which OS X Mavericks is now installed on over 40 percent of Macs worldwide, “representing the most active group in the Mac OS ecosystem,” according to their findings.

Titled “The Power of Free: OS X Mavericks Users Generate 40% of Mac Web Traffic Five Months Post-Release,” the Chitika report makes it clear that one of the primary reasons for this rapid adoption was the $0 price tag.

“Aside from a number of aesthetic and functional changes Apple included as part of OS X Mavericks, the company also turned heads by releasing the latest OS as a free upgrade for Mac desktop and laptop users,” Chitika notes.

“Now five months after Mavericks’ public release, recent usage data suggests that this strategy has helped substantially improve adoption rates as compared to previous Mac OS X versions.”

The firm looked at tens of millions of ad impressions across the U.S. and Canada between March 17 and March 23, 2014, and concluded that “Almost exactly five months following Mavericks’ release, the operating system’s users are generating 40% of U.S and Canadian Mac OS X-based Web traffic, a figure that dramatically outpaces Mavericks’ predecessor, OS X Mountain Lion.”

“At 40%, the share of OS X Web traffic generated by Mavericks users is approximately six percentage points higher than what OS X Mountain Lion achieved nearly 14 months following its public debut, and 13 percentage points higher what was recorded at the seven-month mark,” the advertising network says.

While 40% is already a considerable number, it fades in the face of iOS 7 adoption, which sits at 80% across the entire globe. As other analysts before it, Chitika mentions Apple’s express recommendation to install iOS updates and the slower upgrade pace of Macs in households as the primary reasons behind the huge discrepancy.

“That disparity is likely at least partially a function of the nature of the desktop marketplace, where computers are typically kept for a longer period of time as compared to mobile devices, and hence may not necessarily be upgrade eligible,” Chitika says.

“This may change, as the latest OS includes a number of auto-update features, making active prompts to upgrade to OS X 10.10 a likely future scenario,” the company adds.

Apple this year will debut new versions of both its OSes, including all-new devices that will run them. One such highly-anticipated device is the iPhone 6, which most people say will have a bigger display. New Macs could also be unveiled this year, including a new version of the ultra-thin MacBook Air, which is said to be even thinner and boast a crisp Retina display.