The calendar page has turned once more. It’s now June. Soon we will be singing Christmas carols while contemplating our presents neatly stacked under the glittering Christmas tree. Ho, Ho, Ho. And the sand clock, continues to drip its minuscule grains of sand.
Since another month is gone, it’s time to see what Net Applications has brought us regarding the relentless race amongst the Web browsers players. For me, this race is very exciting to watch.
These are the numbers, fresh from the oven. Market share positions are expressed in percentages.
- Internet Explorer 59.69
- Firefox: 24.35
- Chrome: 7.05
- Safari: 4.77
- Opera 2.43
- Opera Mini: 0.74
- Others: 0.96
COMMENTS:
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer can’t seem to stop its hemorrhage. Last month its market share dropped 0.26 points. Microsoft has been trying to rid the world of Internet Explorer 6, introduced in 2001 and now considered outmoded, slow, and insecure. Even though IE lost share overall, Microsoft can point to progress in upgrading: The various versions of IE8 accounted for 28.9 percent of usage.
Mozilla’s Firefox seems to be losing its steam. Efforts made to break the 25 percent landmark were lost. It has been losing ground for two consecutive months. The nearest it has advanced to break the elusive goal of 25 percent was in November 2009, where it clawed its way to 24.72 percent—a very short distance to reach the final golden goal line.
The clear winner during May’s race was Google’s Chrome. It gained 0.32 points. Chrome launched in September 2008, but it wasn’t until the latter half of 2009 that the browser got its legs under it. If Chrome grows a full percentage point every two months, it will crack 10 percent market share by Dec. 1, solid growth for a browser that launched in September 2008. There is no reason to think Chrome can’t crack double digits this year. Google is more aggressively advertising the browser on Websites such as ESPN.com and the New York Times. Its solid third place is well earned.
Fourth-place Safari from Apple rose 0.1 percentage points to 4.77 percent. Safari hangs around as the browser for Macs and should get traction from the iPad, which has sold more than 2 million units in two months. Net Applications also released statistics for iPad use, showing gradual gains since the Apple tablet’s release. With the iPad now for sale internationally, usage peaked May 29 with 0.17 percent.
Norwegian-made Opera kept its ground in May. It still hold fifth place after gaining 0.13 points last month. This player has worked hard to maintain a reputation of an innovative competitor and willing to fight tooth and nail to attract more users to its camp. It has performed extremely well in the mobile arena where it holds a predominant position.
The browser market has become hotly competitive with new features being built in to support new Web standards. Even Microsoft, long considered a technology laggard even as its browser dominated, is back in the game with aggressive work developing IE9.
I’m still looking forward to see Firefox reach the Magic Kingdom of 25 percent. Good Day.
Source: Net Applications
