Last year brought market share growth for all major browsers except Microsoft's Internet Explorer, according to Net Applications' annual industry report released Wednesday.
The year ended with Mozilla's Firefox and Google's Chrome enjoying gains of about 3 percentage points, while Apple's Safari climbed a single percentage point. Opera stayed relatively flat with a gain of 0.23 points, but IE saw a decline of nearly 8 percentage points.
Though IE's popularity may have sunk, the Microsoft browser still boasts a greater market share than all the other browsers combined with 62.69 percent of the audience.
Firefox now has a 24.61 percent share, leaving Chrome with 4.63 percent, Safari with 4.46 percent, and Opera with 2.4 percent.
Internet Explorer's gradual loss of market share occurred despite Microsoft's launch of IE 8. The new version may not be able to stem the tide, according to Net Applications. For years, IE faced virtually no competition, so Microsoft had few reasons to enhance or innovate as market leader. As Firefox usage started to climb and Chrome joined the ranks, Microsoft released IE 8 and hoped that its new features would halt the browser's decline. But with more browsers in the market, competition is tighter than ever. And so far, IE 8 hasn't had much impact on recapturing lost market share.
Microsoft also now faces a cloudy browser environment in Europe. In 2007, Norway-based Opera Software pressed the European Commission to investigate Microsoft over IE's alleged browser monopoly on the desktop. To placate the EC, Redmond was forced to design a Choice Screen that displays a list of 12 different browsers that people can install and set up as the default. Though the effect of the Choice Screen remains to be seen, Net Applications believes it will significantly alter browser market share in Europe.
(Credit:
Net Applications)
For relative newcomer Chrome, 2009 was a banner year. After its unveiling in late 2008, Google's browser took awhile to catch on but then saw its use double over the first half of 2009. Chrome, which trailed Safari in market share virtually all of last year, finally surpassed Apple's browser in December for the first time, making it the third most popular browser.
Though Chrome's 4.63 percent share of the market is still far behind that of second place Firefox, Mozilla now needs to look at not just catching up with IE but at holding off Google's up and comer, Net Applications said.
Safari's gains have come about mostly as the Mac OS has grown in popularity. With the debut of Windows 7 OS in October, Windows seems to have halted some of the loss in market share to Apple, notes Net Applications. But Safari still grew throughout the year, especially in December, thanks in large part to its use on mobile devices. Mobile browsers now account for 1.3 percent of all Web browsing.
Despite the hype, it seems few IT teams are testing Google's recently launched Web browser Chrome--yet.
In Silicon.com's latest exclusive CIO Jury poll, the respondents revealed that they were still steering clear of the application, with 10 out of 12 saying their IT teams are not testing it.
Many in the "no" camp attributed their lack of Chrome testing to their IT infrastructures being set up to run with Internet Explorer as the default browser. Google unveiled Chrome at the start of September.
Click image for full Chrome gallery.
(Credit: Robert Vamosi/CNET Networks; Google)Nic Evans, European IT director at Key Equipment Finance, said: "Too many business applications are only certified for Internet Explorer to consider any alternatives so soon."
One respondent, however, hoped that the advent of Chrome will force Microsoft to up its game in the browser market.
Iain Hepburn, IT director at law firm Clarke Willmott, added: "We use MOSS (Microsoft Office SharePoint Server) and extensive other MS applications and development tools, so we pretty much live in a MS world and have to use IE to get full functionality. We will be watching with interest though and any competition which forces everyone (MS) to raise their game is good for the consumer. We await the release of IE8 and what that may bring."
For the public sector, the issue of using Chrome may be academic, as IT leaders there may have to take a lead from the central government security gatekeepers.
Andrew Watson, CIO at the British Transport Police, said: "We are not testing Chrome. Partly because the Internet is such a potential security risk, we would take our steer off of CESG (the Information Assurance arm of the Government Communications HQ) about its suitability for use in secure government environments."
But those who have tested the browser did have praise for it.
Peter Pedersen, CTO of clothes retailer Figleaves.com, said: "(We've had) good results so far--far more friendly on the PC memory than IE."
Although his IT team isn't testing Chrome, Key Equipment Finance's Evans added that he had experimented with the Google app himself, describing it as "a more clean and efficient browser."
Other CIO Jury participants who said they are not seriously testing Chrome as a business browser added that they intend to watch the browser's development, possibly with a view to adopting it in the future.
One CIO who is testing Chrome, however, queried the business support that Google is able to provide.
Andy Jackson, head of IT for business-to-business media group Huveaux, said: "We could have done with Google providing us with a technical channel for questions and updates to minimize the impact of the announcement on the development team."
Taking part in this CIO Jury were:
• Chris Broad, head of IS and Technology, UKAEA
• Pete Crowe, IT director, Fat Face
• Nic Evans, European IT director, Key Equipment Finance
• Madhushan Gokool, IT manager, Storm Model Management
• Paul Haley, director of IT, Aberdeen University
• Iain Hepburn, IT director, Clarke Willmott
• Peter Pedersen, CTO, figleaves.com
• Richard Storey, head of IT, Guys & St Thomas' Hospital
• Andrew Watson, CIO, British Transport Police
• Jane Kimberlin, IT director, Domino's Pizza Group
• Mike Roberts, IT director, The London Clinic
• Andy Jackson, head of IT, Huveaux
Julian Goldsmith of Silicon.com reported from London.
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