Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
Summary: IE is still the number one Web browser, but it may go below 50% of the market as early as March according to one measurement, and below 40% on another. Oh, and the single most popular Web browser of all? Google's Chrome 16.
Net Applications has Chrome gaining on IE & Firefox as 2011 ended.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE), according to both Web browser surveying companies, Net Applications and StatCounter, is continuing its fall like a stone, while Chrome keeps flying upward Indeed, StatCounter has Chrome 15, now Chrome 16, thanks to Chrome's automatic update feature, being the world's most popular single browser version.
Even by Net Applications's account though, IE has dropped to a new all-time, modern low of 51.9%, By their numbers IE dropped over seven points last year. If its decline keeps up at this rate, IE will fall below 50% by March. By StatCounter's statistics , which look at the global Web browser market, IE went under 40% for the first time. StatCounter has IE's share down to 38.65%.
Roger Capriotti, Microsoft's IE marketing head, chose to put the most positive spin on the results. Capriotti wrote in advance of Net Applications' final numbers for the year, We're pleased to say IE9 ... will soon take the top spot from IE8 on Windows 7." Capriotti didn't comment on IE's far more dismal StatCounter's performance numbers.
While Statcounter has Chrome already ahead of Firefox and closing fast on IE.
At the same time, Chrome, which recently overtook Firefox for second place according to StatCounter's measurements, hit a new high of 19.1% by Net Application's numbers. If Chrome continues to grow at this pace, it will break 20% either in January or in February. StatCounter has Chrome doing far better on the world stage with 27.27%.
Firefox, which recently inked a deal with Google that will bring it almost a billion dollars in the next three years, bottomed out at 21.8%. By Net Applications' count, Firefox will drop to third place in March. StatCounter, of course, already has Firefox in third, but their numbers show the popular open-source browser showing a slight gain in December: 25.27% over November's 25.23%.
As for the rest, StatCounter has Apple's Safari in 4th place and slowing growing to just over 6% for the end of the year, while Opera just keeps its nose above water with 1.98%. Net Applications has them in the same positions with Safari currently having 4.97% and Opera showing 1.66%.
You can argue about the exact numbers, you can fight over each site's methodology, what you can't argue about are the trends. IE is declining and Chrome is gaining. Indeed, if things keep going the way they are, it may well be that Chrome will become the top Web browser by any measurement.
Related Stories:
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Google Chrome's breakneck pace: innovation or version inflation?
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Talkback
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
[i]if things keep going the way they are[/i]
The key word here is "if". I hope you don't think Microsoft or Mozilla is just going to sit by and do nothing. Both will be working to improve their browsers while Google does what it does best, discontinue their services or wait until someone has a good feature then implement it themselves.
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
It just goes to show that, given an equal playing field, people don't prefer MS products.
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
Sure they do. Microsoft still has the most web browser share.
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
It was not that long ago that MS has close to 90% market share for web browsers. It is now about 38%. Time for you to get some perspective!
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
Its truly hard for him to let go. Things change, life goes on.
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
I agree. He tries to make a point that Ms and Mozilla will not just sit idly by and do nothing. True, they haven't. Mozilla is regularly improving FF and its market share is steadily rising. MS is been "improving" IE and its market share has been falling. It seems that MS had about 95% of the market around the time of IE6; yet, with the releases of IE 7,8, and 9 that market share has fallen to 38%. Clearly, whatever MS is doing with IE is not working!
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
That is a difficult concept for him to see. You shouldn't get so [i]'complicated'[/i]
;)
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
Mozilla's Firefox is dropping like flies because it is buggier. Chrome isn't much better in the bug department. Not saying IE is perfect but when IE was updated to fix 3 bugs last month, Chrome had over a dozen.
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
Actually I'm thinking along the lines of 2000-2005 around the time of Netscape's demise and the beginnings of Firefox when there really wasn't much else to use except IE5/IE6. It was a dismal period where malware almost had free reign over the XP operating system because MS was piss poor as far as securing it was concerned.
Yup, I remember those days too.
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
Actually there were plenty of web browsers available in the 1993-2003 range. I used not less than 4 different web browsers in that time, including netscape (1993 - I used it through either AOL or Compuserver), safari (2003 - I only used it in school on our Macs), opera (1996 - I used version 0.9 and introduced a good 40 people to it as an IE alternative), firefox (1998 - I used the beta through v1.5 or 1.6 whatever it was), I also used Mosaic, before it became Netscape, and I used several text based browsers in 1992-1995 and I still use Lynx from time to time on my Linux machines. Not bothering to mention IE, as everyone has used it.
Netscape was around before Internet explorer, by almost 2 years...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
We can be sure Loverock is right because his past predictions have always been right on. So for instance, as you will recall, way back in 2001 he correctly predicted the present browser market shares, along with the rise of the iphone and android.
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
If MS keeps removing features from IE, it will continue to drop.
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
I'm surprised that Chrome is still at less then 20% given that
it runs on Windows, Macs, and Linux, while IE only runs on Windows.
Not something SJVN likes to mention, but it is his blog... ;)
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
Browser is not cash cow for google and microsoft
FireFox got cash support not from customers, but from google, which had it money mostly from searching ad.
Microsoft's star product are office, os, enterprise software, and game consoles. As for IE, most enterprise applications still stuck with it, because Chrome/Firefox version strategy won't fly with enterprise security management.
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
Hmm, scratching head.
Clearly then, stat counter's statistics are garbage
And since SJVN's entire blog was based on stat counter's garbage statistics, his entire blog is garbage.
This is your claim.
RE: Chrome keeps winning; Internet Explorer keeps falling
servers 48%+ windows server
desktop 90%+ windows