Browser Wars: Chrome grabs market share from IE

The latest update in the browser wars is out, and it appears someone is shaking things up a bit. The order of the top five browsers on the market now looks a little different: 

1. Internet Explorer (62.7%), 2. Firefox (24.6%), 3. Chrome (4.6%), 4. Safari (4.5%), 5. Opera (2.4%)

In just one year, Google's Chrome web browser has tripled its market share and jumped into third place in the browser wars.  In December, Chrome surpassed Apple's Safari in worldwide usage by jumping from 3.9 percent to 4.6 percent, according to Net Applications.  The rise in popularity of Chrome is having a direct affect on Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer continues its steady slide, dropping from 63.6 percent to 62.7 percent usage. Most of IE's share loss to date has been picked up by Firefox, but recently Chrome has gained some ground of its own.

Some good news for Microsoft, though, as IE8 has almost eliminated the older versions in use.  IE8 rose from 19.3 percent to 20.9 percent, while IE6 dropped.

IE6, IE7 and IE8 usage combine to make Internet Explorer the most widely used browser on the market, but web traffickers are losing interest in the browser as more alternatives begin to emerge and offer more.

It seems that Chrome is stealing more users from Internet Explorer and Safari, which some find surprising.  It was thought Chrome would primarily steal Firefox users, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

Announcement of Chrome Extensions, though still in beta, might be a reason for Chrome's recent rise.  Google's recent release of the browser for Mac and Linux helped bolster those numbers, as well.

Firefox remains our preferred browser here at Brice Cheddarn Development, but Chrome is a close second.  Both are great for different reasons. 

Our opinion of IE is no secret...it's horrible.  IE8 has made vast improvements, but still pales in comparison to FF and GC.

Go Firefox!

Comments