I guess you are referring to the fact that the iPhone by default loads images in emails, but Gmail does not? (Yes you can turn this off on the iPhone).

Yes that is an accurate comment. The other thing that sways the numbers is that you are not really comparing “apples” with “apples” – no pun intended. The iPhone stats are pretty much “device” stats – whereas Gmail is web-based software and not device specific. And of course a lot of people access their Gmail accounts using desktop software such as Thunderbird or Outlook, or even the iPhone itself, which again throws the stats out.

The fact is that most web-based statistical analysis is part-art, part-science. It is the Trends that tell us something – and the trend shown by CampaignMonitor does indeed show how popular the iPhone has become, and over what period the growth spurts occur etc.

The answer to why the stat looking like that is explained in the comments of that article. It’s actually not a flattering to be top of that list (privacy issue).