Fresh statistics have been released into the wild by Net Applications for October 2011. Net Applications’ statistics are based on the activity of about 160 million visitors per month to Web sites using its services.
These are the latest figures on the performance of the juggernauts of the Internet as far as web browsing is concerned.
- Internet Explorer: 52.63 – 54.39 = 1.76 percent.
- Firefox: 22.52 – 22.48 = 0.04 percent.
- Chrome: 17.62 – 16.20 = 1.42 percent.
- Safari: 5.43 – 5.02 = 0.41 percent.
- Opera: 1.56 – 1.67 = 0.11 percent.
- Others: 0.24 – 0.23 = 0.01 percent.
COMMENTS:
There are no surprises in these numbers. Microsoft Internet Explorer continues its free fall, losing almost two whole points in October. The leakage of red ink seems to be irreversible. When all versions were taken into account, IE still leads the overall market with 52.63 percent of usage in October, with Firefox in second place at 22.52 percent. Google Chrome is coming in third with a solid 17.62 percent. If this trend continues, in only six month, Google Chrome will be holding second place. Quite a remarkable performance from a rough player.
Mozilla’s Firefox is fighting tooth and nail to retain its fragile second place. It staved off the rivals with a 0.04 percentage point gain. My gut feeling is that soon they will have to move to third place ceding its position to robust Google Chrome.
Google Chrome continued its steady rise, from 16.20 percent to 17.62 percent. That’s a hike of 1.42 percent. The growing trend is very clear. They are heading north full speed ahead and will soon bump Firefox to third place. Google is also very active in the mobile phone arena where Android is rapidly becoming a favorite operating system for cellphones and tablets. The race in this category is red-hot with Google, Apple and Opera trying to take the lead. If Amazon’s Fire tablet, which will be released on November 15, becomes an instant killer, it will push the Android operating system upwards, making Google even more recognizable as the undisputed leader in the browsers arena.
Apple Safari continues its upward trend. It gained 0.41 percentage points in October. The acceptance of the iPad tablet worldwide is indisputable and this success will positively affect the spread of Safari. This means more users of Safari and a better a market share position in the future.
