Analysis – Last month, Microsoft’s market share in the browser dropped below 70% for the first time in eight years, while Mozilla broke the 20% barrier for the first time in its history. Initial data sets provided by Net Applications suggest that the Internet Explorer will drop once again significantly in December to below 69% and Mozilla will climb above 21%. IE8 is just around the corner, but current market share data suggests that Microsoft has no effective tool to stop the bleeding at this time - and Mozilla can pick up two out of every three users Microsoft surrenders.
It is a bit early to draw conclusions about December market share data, but if Net Applications’ numbers are somewhat correct, then it is clear that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) will end 2008 with a historic market share loss in a software segment Microsoft believed was key to its future business in the late 1990s. So far, IE posted an average market share of 68.37% for the first 22 days of this month, which is down from 69.77% in November and down from 75.47% in January. At the same time, Firefox has solidified its position above the 20% mark and has posted an average of 21.25% for December, up from 20.78% in November and up from 16.98% in January. In fact, Firefox has achieved daily market shares of up to 23.60% this month, while IE has fallen as low as 64.13%.
Firefox is not the only browser to steal market share from IE. Google’s Chrome is on track to achieve a market share of more than 1% for the first time this month. According to Net Applications, Chrome has not fallen below the 1% mark over the past seven days and has hit a record of 1.22%. Apple’s Safari is currently at 7.82%, up from 7.13% last month and Opera is somewhat stable at 0.70% (down from 0.71%). It is clear that IE now has multiple rivals that may not be able to touch its market share base just yet, but they are eating away market share at an accelerating pace. Now there is the obvious question just how serious this scenario really this for IE.
Realistically, Microsoft has still the commanding lead in the browser market. 68% and more is nothing to sneeze at and is still a comfortable cushion, even if Microsoft continues to lose about 7% share every year. However, the pace of the market share loss has been accelerating over the past six months - and especially since Firefox 3 was released. Since Safari and Chrome are growing into alternatives to Firefox and IE, the potential threat may only increase over the next few months.
SOURCE: Tgdaily
It is a bit early to draw conclusions about December market share data, but if Net Applications’ numbers are somewhat correct, then it is clear that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) will end 2008 with a historic market share loss in a software segment Microsoft believed was key to its future business in the late 1990s. So far, IE posted an average market share of 68.37% for the first 22 days of this month, which is down from 69.77% in November and down from 75.47% in January. At the same time, Firefox has solidified its position above the 20% mark and has posted an average of 21.25% for December, up from 20.78% in November and up from 16.98% in January. In fact, Firefox has achieved daily market shares of up to 23.60% this month, while IE has fallen as low as 64.13%.
Firefox is not the only browser to steal market share from IE. Google’s Chrome is on track to achieve a market share of more than 1% for the first time this month. According to Net Applications, Chrome has not fallen below the 1% mark over the past seven days and has hit a record of 1.22%. Apple’s Safari is currently at 7.82%, up from 7.13% last month and Opera is somewhat stable at 0.70% (down from 0.71%). It is clear that IE now has multiple rivals that may not be able to touch its market share base just yet, but they are eating away market share at an accelerating pace. Now there is the obvious question just how serious this scenario really this for IE.
Realistically, Microsoft has still the commanding lead in the browser market. 68% and more is nothing to sneeze at and is still a comfortable cushion, even if Microsoft continues to lose about 7% share every year. However, the pace of the market share loss has been accelerating over the past six months - and especially since Firefox 3 was released. Since Safari and Chrome are growing into alternatives to Firefox and IE, the potential threat may only increase over the next few months.
SOURCE: Tgdaily
