Major Web Browsers Market Share for March 2009

New browser usage statistics are out for March from Net Applications.   Net Applications’ monthly surveys are conducted by sampling browser data from some 160 million visits to websites operated by the firm’s clients. The company describes the results as “market shares,” but they do not actually measure share of market in the traditional sense of revenue or unit sales. They do, however, provide a consistent methodology by which to gauge operating system trends.  It’s currently the most reliable source of information pertaining to Web browser’s market share performance.

These are the stats Net Applications published for March 2009:

Each browser has three figures. The first figure is March market share performance expressed in percentages, the second figure represents February market share also in percentages, and the third figure is the difference between March and  February.  Red represents a decrease  and green an increase in market share for that particular browser.  Here we go.

1. Internet Explorer: 66.82% minus 67.44% = 0.62%
2. Firefox: 22.05% minus  21.77% =  0.28%
3. Safari: 8.23% minus 8.02% = 0.21%
4. Chrome: 1.23% minus 1.15% = 0.08%
5. Opera: 0.70% minus 0.71% =  0.01%
6. Netscape: 0.69% minus 0.66% = 0.03%
7. Others: 0.28% minus 0.25% =  0.03%

Comments:

Microsoft Internet Explorer continues its downward trend, only this time the change was greater.  It lost more than half a point in one month.  This is bad.  On the other hand, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari are enjoying a healthy increase in its market participation.

Google Chrome is climbing, but at a snail’s pace.  Not bad, but not good either.  I thought its splash into the Web browser’s domain would have been more noticeable.

Opera is frozen in Norway at 0.70 percent.  Its action is somewhere else in the mobile and gadgets arena.  Netscape is the cat with a lot more than nine lives.  This legendary browser has demonstrated that you can live twice.  During March, its market share climbed 0.03 percent, meaning there’s still life in this baby.

Those are the statistics for March 2009.  Let’s wait and see what happens in April.  Will it be more of the same?  Good Day.

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Major Web Browsers Market Share for February 2009

New browser usage statistics are out for February from Net Applications. Net Applications’ monthly surveys are conducted by sampling browser data from some 160 million visits to websites operated by the firm’s clients. The company describes the results as “market shares,” but they do not actually measure share of market in the traditional sense of revenue or unit sales. They do, however, provide a consistent methodology by which to gauge operating system trends.  It’s currently the most reliable source of information pertaining to Web browser’s market share performance.

These are the stats Net Applications published for February 2009:

Each browser has three figures. The first figure is February market share performance expressed in percentages, the second figure represents January market share also in percentages, and the third figure is the difference between February and January. Red means a decrease  and green an increase in market share for that particular browser.  Here we go.

1. Internet Explorer: 67.51% minus 67.55% = 0.04%
2. Firefox: 21.73% minus  21.53% =  0.20%
3. Safari: 8.00% minus 8.29% = 0.29%
4. Chrome: 1.15% minus 1.12% = 0.03%
5. Opera: 0.71% minus 0.70% =  0.01%
6. Netscape: 0.66% minus 0.57% = 0.09%
7. Others: 0.24 minus 0.24% =  0.00%

Comments:

The big winner in February was Mozilla Firefox which moved up almost one quarter of one percent which is very good.  This time it wasn’t at the expense of Microsoft Internet Explorer.  Strangely enough, it was at the expense of Apple Safari which lost 0.29%.

Another big winner was legendary Netscape which rose 0.09%.  It’s absolutely amazing how loyal to Netscape its followers are, after AOL pulled the plug to this historic browser.  Netscape challenges logic.  Even though it has no customer support from AOL, it retains fans within  its camp.  I appreciate brand loyalty for a legendary software which paved the way for the rest of the browsers during the early days of the Internet.

The rest of the picture is more or less the same.  Big winners:  Mozilla Firefox and Netscape. Big loser:  Apple Safari. Good Day.

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Major Web Browsers Market Share for January 2009

New browser usage statistics are out for January from Net Applications.  Net Applications accumulates data from 160 million monthly visitors to its network of hosted Web sites statistics.  It’s currently the most reliable source of information pertaining to Web browser’s market share performance.

Internet Explorer, which has been the market share king for many years now, has been falling steadily since the launch of Mozilla Firefox.

Firefox, on the other hand, has been growing continuously, reaching 21.53 percent market share.  Safari holds its strong third place spot, and sees increasing numbers as well at 8.29 percent.

The Mozilla Firefox Internet Web browser has continued to take market share away from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.  A recent report shows that the Mozilla browser is growing so much, it could threaten IE8. The report was published by Net Applications which indicates steady growth for Firefox which could threaten the next version of IE.

According to the Web metrics provider, Microsoft’s browser market share has declined by more than 7.25 percent since March 2008. The browser held a 67.55  percent market share in January—its lowest in years.

Internet Explorer’s downfall could be as a result of a critical security vulnerability in November and December which took Microsoft engineers longer to patch. This vulnerability was serious enough that it allowed hackers to take control of a user’s computer. However, Microsoft confirmed that consumers didn’t report any successful exploit attempts to IE.

By contrast, Mozilla Firefox’s market share rose 0.19 of a percentage point from December and has climbed almost four percent since March 2008 to reach 21.53 percent in January.

Apple’s Safari browser has also been chipping away at Internet Explorer’s market share for months. Since  March 2008, Safari’s market share has grown more than two percent to a 8.29 percent share in January.

However, Safari’s rising market share is almost entirely due to the rising sales of Mac computers, which ship with Safari. According to Net Applications, the Mac operating system’s share of the computer market has risen 2.45 percent since March.  On the other hand, Microsoft Windows lost 3.31 percent during the last ten months.

Even Google’s Chrome browser, which debuted in early September, exceeded one percent for the first time in December. Among the world’s top five Web browsers, only Opera appears to be going nowhere. Opera’s market share has hovered around the 0.7 percent mark since February.  However, truth be told, Opera is doing extremely well in the mobile and gadgets domain, being a leader in those market segments.

These are the stats Net Applications published for January 2009:

Each browser has three figures. The first figure is January market share performance expressed in percentages, the second figure represents December market share also in percentages, and the third figure is the difference between January and December. Red means a decrease  and green an increase in market share for that particular browser.  Here we go.

1. Internet Explorer: 67.55%, 68.18%, 0.60%
2. Firefox: 21.53%, 21.34%, 0.19%
3. Safari: 8.29%, 7.93%, 0.36%
4. Chrome: 1.12%, 1.04%, 0.08%
5. Opera: 0.70%, 0.71%, 0.01%
6. Netscape: 0.57%, 0.57%, 0.00%
7. Others: 0.24%, 0.26%, 0.02%

Netscape challenges logic.  Even though it has no customer support form AOL, it retains loyalists in  its camp.  I appreciate brand loyalty for a legendary software which paved the way for the rest of the browsers during the early days of the Internet.

In a nutshell, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari are the clear winners for January 2009.  Good Day.

Source:  Top Browser Share Trend – Net Applications

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Major Web Browsers Market Share for December 2008

The latest data from Net Applications indicates that Internet Explorer lost market share in December to browsers from Mozilla and Apple. Net Applications accumulates data from 160 million monthly visitors to its network of hosted Web sites statistics.  It’s currently the most reliable source of information pertaining to Web browser’s market share performance.

According to the Web metrics provider, Microsoft’s browser market share has declined by more than six percent since February 2008. The browser held a 68.15 percent market share in December—its lowest in years.

By contrast, Mozilla Firefox‘s market share rose one-half of a percentage point from November and has climbed more than four percent since February to reach 21.34 percent in December.

“Reaching 20 percent worldwide market share is a significant milestone for Firefox and Mozilla,” said Mozilla CEO John Lilly last month. “It’s a huge achievement by the global Mozilla community, one that just a few years ago most would have considered impossible.”

Apple’s Safari browser has also been chipping away at Internet Explorer’s market share for months. Since February, Safari’s market share has grown more than two percent to a 7.93 percent share in December.

However, Safari’s rising market share is almost entirely due to the rising sales of Mac computers, which ship with Safari. According to Net Applications, the Mac operating system’s share of the computer market has risen 2.17 percent since February.

Even Google‘s Chrome browser, which debuted in early September, exceeded one percent for the first time in December. Among the world’s top five Web browsers, only Opera appears to be going nowhere. Opera’s market share has hovered around the 0.7 percent mark since February.

These are the stats Net Applications published for December 2008:

Each browser has three figures. The first figure is December market share performance expressed in percentages, the second figure represents November market share also in percentages, and the third figure is the difference between December and November. Red means a decrease  and green an increase in market share for that particular browser.  Here we go.

1. Internet Explorer: 68.15%, 69.77%, 1.62%
2. Firefox: 21.34%, 20.78%, 0.56%
3. Safari: 7.93%, 7.13%, 0.80%
4. Chrome: 1.04%, 0.83%, 0.21%
5. Opera: 0.71%, 0.71%, 0.00%
6. Netscape: 0.57%, 0.53%, 0.04%
7. Others: 0.26%, 0.25%, 0.01%

COMMENTS:

Microsoft can’t seem to find it way up North.  It lost more than one and a half points during December, while Firefox and Safari are advancing full speed ahead.

Chrome is gaining ground, even though I thought it would grab the market by storm.  Having a big name like Google doesn’t always do the trick.  When Google starts coughing out Add-ons for Chrome, maybe we can see bigger numbers for this no-nonsense Web browser.

Opera is dead on the water, while Netscape challenges logic.  Even though it has no customer support form AOL, it keeps on adding loyalist to its camp.  I appreciate brand loyalty for a legendary software which paved the way for the rest of the browsers during the early days of the Internet.

In a nutshell, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari are the clear winners for December.  Good Day.

Source:  Top Browser Share Trend – Net Applications

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