“StatCounter, an analytics firm, says that Firefox’s share of the browser market now stands at 32.06%, up almost seven percentage points from last November. Internet Explorer’s share fell more than 12 percentage points over the same period,” Beyers writes. “Firefox isn’t the only winner here. Apple’s Safari made modest gains [2.49% in Nov. ’08 to 3.67% in Nov. ’09], and Google’s Chrome browser gained almost as much as Firefox did — up to 5.34% from 0.93% last November.”
MacDailyNews Note: StatCounter’s reports Mobile Browser use separately. Apple’s Mobile Safari (iPhone+iPod touch) is #1 with 31.70%. See figures for other mobile browsers below.
Beyers continues, “Blame it on Steve Jobs. We don’t know precisely why IE is losing share, but Macs could be part of the problem. Apple has gained share from smaller PC market rivals this year, and it’s putting pressure on leaders Dell and Hewlett-Packard in the process. Macs don’t use IE. They haven’t for years. Each user that switches from PC to Mac also switches from IE to … something else.”
“Serious Mac addicts will tell you that Safari is the platform’s best browser. It certainly performs well enough on my aging MacBook Pro. But it also isn’t my primary choice. Firefox is, because it’s both browser and platform… Safari doesn’t dabble in plug-ins and extensions the way that Firefox does,” Beyers writes.
“Microsoft investors have reason to worry,” Beyers writes. “This is a war, and it’s being fought in the browser. The most functional environment for cloud computing will win this conflict.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: For December 2009, StatCounter’s Mobile Browser figures are as follows:
• Mobile Safari – 31.70%
– iPhone – 22.21%
– iPod touch – 9.49%
• Opera – 26.67%
• Nokia – 19.05%
• BlackBerry – 9.26%
• NetFront – 3.36%
• Android – 3.97%
• Sony PSP – 1.54%
• Openwave – 1.13%
• Other – 3.30%
See StatCounter’s graph here.
“This is a war, and it’s being fought in the browser.”
And irony coming full circle isn’t just a ferrous wheel.
If they were using Firefox on their PC (very likely) then they probably loaded Firefox for the Mac when they switched.
Oh please Ampar!
That was a punny effort.
Happy Holidays!
title should read “…If so, Steve Jobs is partly to thank.”
Steve Jobs should get a medal for helping rid the computer world of the internet Explorer abomination.
Internet Explorer is losing because it’s a lousy browser. MS continues to ignore web standards while Firefox, Safari, Chrome and others embrace them. IE is slow and does not display many pages correctly unless programmers incorporate IE hacks to combat the bugs.
Of course, the popularity of Apple is chipping away at Windows sales and IE use as well.
I prefer ferris wheels, but they’re probably not as ironic.
As a total n00bie, with an early generation iMac, I was having problems with erratic behavior of Navigator, . . . and maybe even a few other apps. This was at a time when IE was also bundled on these machines.
I was advised to root through my machine and trash anything with the Microsoft name attached. It took a couple of tries, but the problems cleared up.
I primarily use Safari, but Firefox next to it, on my Dock.
MSFT bit off its own nose to spite its own face when it pulled the plug on Internet Explorer for Mac in 2003. As the Macintosh user base grows, IE isn’t even an option for the thick-headed.
Wait a minute, are you sure it’s not a rounding error?
“We don’t know precisely why IE is losing share, but Macs could be part of the problem.”
IE losing share is a problem?
Talk about Stockholm Syndrome…
For my extended family members who are not ready to switch to a Mac, I at least tell them to drop IE in favor of Firefox – which I download, install, and explain how to use.
Peace.
MSFT’s challenge to Chrome is a super secret project, codename Rust.
I prefer ferris wheels, but they’re probably not as ironic.
But they’re more iconic.
@ Ampar,
Ferrous Wheel?
Was that just a chemistry joke or did you really mean iron wheel?
The funny thing is that Microsoft’s lack of development for IE on the Mac OS was probably at one time thought to be a nail in Apple’s coffin.
Instead, it’s part of a trend in slowly killing IE.
Here are two things that will do IE in:
1) People who are at all tech savvy use something else.
2) The general population is slowly but surely becoming more tech savvy.
“Macs don’t use IE.”
I’m pretty sure they can. They used to.
IE’s share is now down to 56%. Soon it will be less than 50%.
FireFox is likely gaining share because it is faster and easier to use than IE. Have you ever tried looking at browser history on IE? It is buried in the most ridiculous place.
The other thing that annoys me about IE is the links to the M$ and Bing. I much prefer the simple Google search page.
This is a good example of competition improving the user experience. And it looks like the general public are wising up to the fact that there are better browsers around.
The one to watch is Chrome. Already at 5% share – it will become a dominant layer soon for PCs. Probably won’t have much effect on the Mac platform.
don’t understand honestly how you can utilize something else than safari 4 once you have used it.
the rest is lightyears behind…
or a way to understand is maybe that people ignore the existence of safari 4..maybe the same way that not everybody has upgrade to iphone/ipodtouch sotware 3+
interesting…
I agree. Firefox is much much better than IE and much better than Safari.
“Was that just a chemistry joke or did you really mean iron wheel?”
The answer is yes. And decaying rib steak isn’t just an oxide.
To quote the Firesign Theater, “How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You’re Not Anywhere At All?”
“Safari… isn’t my primary choice. Firefox is, because it’s both browser and platform… Safari doesn’t dabble in plug-ins and extensions the way that Firefox does…”
So why did Google and Adobe choose WebKit as their “platform”?
IE was the very reason antivirus software has become nevessary. Windows is to blame, but it’s IE that provides all the security holes, leading to the well known phrase “curse you, activeX”
also, I have a windows desktop for gaming (aside from my MacBook pro) and guess what? I use Safari!! Ballmers can suck my …. For as long as it takes!
“I hope that someday we will be able to put away our fears and prejudices and just laugh at people.”
– Jack Handey
“…Safari doesn’t dabble in plug-ins and extensions the way that Firefox does…” and why not? Is this another example of Job’s infamous NEEED to control every aspect of his empire? Well, then, what of the iPhone and its multitude of apps? Oh, right, those are controlled as well. But not as tightly.
Safari certainly could benefit from some optional plug-ins, extensions, tool-bars and the like. Those I’ve used with Firefox have tended to exchange screen real-estate for functionality (or appearance) and this tended to be an acceptable exchange – or the addition became a subtraction.
I wonder if there is a way to convince His Steveness that it would be a Good Thing to pare Safari down a bit while simultaneously offering “extras”.