Cyber Monday Winners: Mostly Apple (Update1)

(Updated from 9:31 a.m. EST to provide research on iPhone 5 in the sixth and seventh paragraphs.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Consumers logged on eagerly for Cyber Monday deals, spending almost $2 billion and setting a record. Shoppers are increasingly turning to their phones and tablets to do their shopping, and Apple (AAPL) is poised to benefit.

IBM (IBM) noted that the iPad is driving more retail shopping than any other device, with more than 7% of all sales done on mobile devices. The next most heavily-used device is the iPhone, coming in at 6.9%. Android devices accounted for 4.5% of all purchases. Android is Google's (GOOG) mobile operating system.

Adobe (ADBE) posted on its blog that Cyber Monday sales grew 17% year-over-year to $1.98 billion, as consumers took to their smartphones and tablets to make purchases. According to the Adobe Digital Index, mobile sales accounted for 22% of all Cyber Monday sales, with the Toys and Sporting Goods sections seeing the most growth, followed by Health and Beauty.

IBM confirmed the mobile trend in its own Cyber Monday data, noting that mobile devices accounted for close to 13% of all sales, a 96% increase on Cyber Monday 2011. This data was as of midnight PST on Tuesday, and slightly conflicts with Adobe's data, but the trend is clear: Mobile is the big winner.

Apple recently updated its iPhone and iPad lineups, and that bet is paying off, as consumers turn to those devices to shop. Apple announced the iPhone 5 in September, and unveiled both the iPad Mini and fourth-generation iPad in an event in San Jose in October. TheStreet covered both events.

Research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows that the iPhone 5 has reclaimed the top spot in the mobile phone market, and has moved iOS, Apple's mobile operating system, back to No. 1 in the U.S. with 48.1% market share. Android has 46.7%.

Apple sold more than 5 million units of the iPhone 5 in its initial weekend, and users appear to be increasingly using it to do their shopping.

Adobe noted that "mobile shopping has passed the tipping point." With showrooming (where consumers view a product in a store before buying it online) a growing concern for retailers such as Best Buy (BBY), people are increasingly turning to their phones and tablets while they wait on lines, on the couch, or even at the dinner table.

One area that has yet to take off in a big way is social-network shopping. Adobe and IBM noted that social network referrals are still a relatively small percentage of overall sales. IBM noted that social-network referrals accounted for only 0.41% of all online sales on Cyber Monday, a decrease from 2011. Adobe noted it represented 2% of total visits.

Facebook (FB) and Twitter accounted for 77% of referrals, according to Adobe, with Pinterest making up 15%, the largest gainer year-over-year.

Interested in more on Apple? See TheStreet Ratings' report card for this stock.

--Written by Chris Ciaccia in New York

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