StatCounter: Chrome overtakes Firefox globally
As predicted, while Chrome could have overtaken Firefox by 2012, Google managed it with a month to spare.
According to web analytics firm StatCounter, Chrome took 25.69 percent of the worldwide market, up from 4.66 percent in November 2009, compared to Firefox's share of 25.23 percent.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer remains the most used browser. But the battle of the titans begins once again: Microsoft versus Google in the browser marketshare space.
The United States paints a slightly different picture, however.
Internet Explorer continues to retain a hefty share of the marketshare at just over 50 percent, slight up year on year. While Firefox retains second place with a share down from 27 percent to 20 percent, Chrome saw a dramatic rise from just shy of 11 percent to 17.3 percent.
Little change for Safari, as it holds onto its 10.7 percent share of the U.S. market.
The European markets show a reluctance to carry on using Firefox, with Chrome at the forefront of many Mozilla defectors. While Internet Explorer leads the market still with a near 43 percent of the UK market, Chrome holds second place at 24.8 percent, while Firefox drops down to 20.5 percent.
As per an antitrust settlement with the European Union, Microsoft began issuing a Windows Update fix to give users in the UK, Belgium and France a free choice of browser. European markets were hit hard with the 'browser ballot', where users of Windows were forced by European legislators to give users the choice of browser.
Internet Explorer 6, once the most popular web browser in the world, still retains a 1.3 user share in the U.S. With it being bundled as part of Windows XP, the world's most popular operating system to date, this marriage gave Microsoft the lead in the browser share space.
But October's marketshare statistics from rival firm NetMarketShare shows that Internet Explorer is barely above the 50 percent mark.
Sister site CNET reports that Net Applications shows Chrome is still within "striking distance" of overtaking Firefox, with March 2012 set as the mark should the rate continue.
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