When Apple wanted to charge publishers 30 percent of revenues for mobile applications sold through the iTunes App Store, the Financial Times resisted, pulling its application and opting instead to create its own HTML5 mobile site. The paper now reports that it is receiving more traffic to this HTML5 site than it had on its iOS app.

The average mobile Financial Times user looks through more pages than the average reader at a desktop computer. “They are consuming about three times as many pages through the app as they are through the desktop in an average visit,” said Rob Grimshaw, managing director of FT.com, told reporters.

Whether or not other publications will follow the Financial Times’ lead remains to be seen. Like iOS apps, HTML5 sites use the touchscreen navigation that has come to dominate reading on mobile devices.

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