Mac OS X-based devices enjoyed yet another increase in Net Application’s January report on Internet usage, with the combination of Macs (9.93 percent) iPhones (0.48 percent) and iPod Touches (0.11 percent) reaching a combined high of 10.52 percent.

The new data contradict an explanation Net Applications gave last month that Mac OS X’s December gains were a holiday anomaly -– people supposedly were home playing with their Apple gear instead of goofing off at work on the Web with their Windows PCs.

Net Applications monthly statistics, which it publishes on its Web site, derive from data the company gathers in the course of its business -- measuring Web traffic for its clients. It’s not a scientific process, but the sample is huge – 160 million Web site visits – so the data is useful in detecting trends.

Although Net Applications describes its data as “market share,” a more accurate description would be “user share,” as in the percentage of people on the Web using a particular operating system or Web browser.

While many observers on the Web today noted the Mac has nearly reached 10 percent share, last month the total share of OS X -- with the help of the iPhone and iPod Touch – had already exceeded 10 percent (10.15 percent).

January’s data shows Team OS X with a 0.37 percent increase. The Mac contributed most of the gain with .30 percent, but both the iPhone (+0.04) and the iPod Touch (+0.03) showed significant growth.

In fact, the rate of growth for the two Apple Mobile devices far outstrips the Mac’s modest 3.11 percent increase. The iPhone tripled the Mac’s growth rate with 9.09 percent; while the iPod Touch had a remarkable 37.5 percent increase.

By growing so dramatically Apple’s mobile platform lengthened its lead over the competition, most of which stood still compared with December. Windows CE remained stuck at 0.05 percent; Symbian at 0.04 percent; and Hiptop at 0.03 percent. Android debuted in the stats at 0.03 percent, while the BlackBerry vanished from the list altogether.

Some pundits, such as Joe Wilcox, seem perplexed at the iPhone’s steady growth in the Net Applications data. Writes Wilcox:

What about BlackBerry OS, Symbian or Windows Mobile? Nokia shipped more than 110 million cell phones in the third quarter, according to Gartner (fourth-quarter numbers aren't publicly available yet). Symbian OS smartphone shipments were nearly four times iPhone OS (18.2 million versus 4.7 million, respectively). What, there are no Nokia smartphone users accessing the Web? Point: Data isn't complete.

No, it’s so, Joe. Other smartphones may outnumber the iPhone, but those folks wanted a device more for e-mail and other business tasks. People who buy an iPhone choose it because it’s better at things like Web browsing. It does make sense.

Another example is games. According to a ComScore report released the other day, iPhone owners are 8.5 times more likely to download game apps than owners of other smartphones.

In Net Applications’ browser data, Apple’s Safari browser cracked 8 percent share for the first time, hitting 8.29 percent. Internet Explorer fell again to a new low of 67.55 percent, losing share to Safari, Firefox (21.53 percent) and Google’s new Chrome browser (1.12 percent).