Chicago (IL) – Microsoft was not able to slow the market share loss of its Internet Explorer (IE) web browser in December. IE surrendered more than 1.5 points in December, according to Net Applications, while Firefox, Chrome and Safari posted substantial gains. Over the past 12 months, IE has lost almost 8 points, leaving the browser with the least amount of market share since 1999.

Net Applications released updated global browser market share numbers today, indicating that IE is losing users at an accelerated pace. The browser’s share dropped from 69.77% in November to 68.15% in December. Most rivals were able to pick up a portion of what IE surrendered. Firefox gained more than half a point and ended up at 21.34%, Safari approaches the next big hurdle with 7.93% and Chrome came in at 1.04%, the first time Google was able to cross the 1% mark. Opera remained stable 0.71%, but it is clear that the Norwegian browser cannot attract any users IE loses.

Over the past 12 months, IE gave up 7.9 points of market share, while Firefox gained 4.5 points and Safari nearly 2.4 points. Chrome, released in September of this year, is an entirely new player and Opera was able to add 0.7 points to its usage share and remains just above Netscape, which is still listed at a slowly declining 0.57%.

As reported previously, the main reason for IE’s market share loss remains the installed base of corporate IE6 users (and some home users), which is where Microsoft’s browser is most vulnerable at this time. While IE7’s market share has not declined much (from about 45% during the week and about 50% on weekends in the beginning of the year to about 44% during the week to 48% on weekends at the end of the year) and IE8 Beta 1 and 2, released in March and August of 2008, have grown to 0.96% share, IE6 is declining rapidly and at a much faster pace than IE7 and IE8 are able to gain.

Since IE6 is used primarily within corporations, its market share is much higher during the week than it is on weekends. As a result, all other browsers gain on weekends and especially during a holiday. Because of that circumstance, Net Applications noted that the December numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. However, it is worth the note that IE6 achieved during the week market share numbers of about 28% during the week and about 21% on weekends in early 2008. In December, these numbers were down to about 20% during the week and 15% on weekends.    

There are very few browser market share numbers available that would provide a credible and especially comparable indication how IE’s market share has evolved in the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, based on what we were able to dig up, there seems to be an agreement that it was IE4 that took Microsoft to about 60% in early 1999 and IE5 (released in March 1999) lifted the browser’s market share above 70% by early 2000.   

The market share loss of IE6 is a problem Microsoft will have to address soon, if the company remains serious about the browser market, especially if it intends to fine tune the browser to work well with its cloud operating system Windows Azure. As far as we can see right now, IE8 will not be able to stop the bleeding, as it follows the same design ideas Microsoft has had in place with previous browsers. While Apple, Mozilla and Chrome have found effective ways to quickly transition their users from an older browser to a newer software, Microsoft is clearly struggling to move users from IE6 to a more recent version.

For example, Firefox 2.0 usage share has been declining consistently over the past six months, from about 17% in the beginning of June to currently about 3.3%. In the same time, Firefox 3.0 climbed from less than 1% into the 18-19% range.

as expected

Jan 02, 2009 13:26     

well i gaveup using IE7 about 4 months ago and now iv'e been using CHROME all the time and i would say that CHROME is alot faster and its extremely great browser. its the best browser iv'e used till now.
borgo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -5

Mmm

Jan 02, 2009 13:37     

I think this will all change when Ms release win7 assuming it is adopted widely if not then they will really start losing big chunks of the market share.
Bob32 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

Yeah

Jan 02, 2009 14:04     

I gave up Using IE as my main browser, mainly because it runs slower not really because I thought it was a bad browser. I used Firefox for quite some time, but actually have found Chrome to be my favorite. The only thing that really bugs me about IE is when I am developing web pages. Firefox and Chrome are extremely easy to develop layouts for while IE always has some little problem that you have to work around. So, I guess what I'm saying is that I don't have a problem with any browser. Hopefully the other browsers can push Microsoft to make IE more compatible with the latest standards of web development considering that they still make up most of the market.

Blah report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

This is great news, now if only people will adopt metric in the USA.

Jan 02, 2009 14:51     

This is great news, now if only people will adopt metric in the USA!
Gavin Young report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +11

Question

Jan 02, 2009 14:51     

Is it really that bad for MS to lose market share in the browser market? We're not talking about OS or Office apps, where they sell the software and make money. IE is (and mostly all other browsers) "free" software. So, what are the consequences for MS if they continue to lose the browser market share?
Alejandro report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Its called Karma

Jan 02, 2009 15:10     

IE6 screwed up CSS rendering so much and refused to make an update for about 5 years!! Look at all the hacks required to render pages correctly. I like Firefox. I even like Google's chrome. 1000 people working on a browser! Thats garbage.
John Atkinson report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

Chrome makes it very easy to magnify the type on a ...

Jan 02, 2009 16:26     

Chrome makes it very easy to magnify the type on a Web page - ctrl with the sign.
Robert Jackson report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -3

Chrome ok, IE7 ok, Fireffox 3... great. IE8?

Jan 02, 2009 17:25     

Nothing wrong with IE7, decent browser. Chromeagain, decent, fast but bland and not much there. Firefox 3 is fast, has fantastic addons, and Is great. Firefox 3.1 is going to raise the bar even more. I used IE8 but haven't seen anything yet to suggest it making a come-back for IE.
crawlgsx report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +2

MS IE doomed

Jan 02, 2009 18:33     

Just compare the speed and usefulness options, maybe only good marketing brainwashing from MS is keeping IE online.
Frank report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

ie8 designed different -> supports addons

Jan 02, 2009 19:07     

ie8 is designed alot differently, because they are now supporting addons, which is the major reason I use firefox.
blink report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Glad to see!

Jan 02, 2009 19:21     

I'm glad to see that Firefox is still on the increase. I don't think IE will remain where they are much longer... not with the release of gOS Cloud coming out soon.
Jam report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Who cares?

Jan 02, 2009 19:29     

Do you think that MS cares about this? Mozilla is the one who is going who is going to hate this is the most. Now that they are starting to become less of a cult following, people are going to start exploiting it, and then we will find out if they have enough cred to muster the attacks on its vulnerabilites. I guess if it does not, it will have to pick up its marbles and play another day when they have the cred to play with the big boys like Big Blue.

Kevin report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -2

Inaccurate Reporting?

Jan 02, 2009 19:40     

NetApplications.com report says "Reaching 20 percent worldwide market share is a significant milestone for Firefox and Mozilla" .. Not what you have reported "climbs above 21%" Also, NetApplications is possibly biased as they reported firefox whould reach this level in JUNE 2008, it is now January 2009 !! hmm, strange how netapplications estimations are wrong. And tgdaily editors ad a percentage and a prefix "above" to over hype the report. wedoDigg http://digg.com/users/wedoDigg

wedoDigg report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

My predictions for 2009: IE will continue to hold ...

Jan 02, 2009 19:47     

My predictions for 2009: IE will continue to hold the majority but will fall to the 50% market share. In 2010, unless IE8 is phenomenal, IE will fall below 50% for the first time in a decade.
Inverse137 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

chrome

Jan 02, 2009 19:48     

firefox? No way... chrome is the best.
dan report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

...And IE8 is bad, real bad.

Jan 02, 2009 20:29     

IE8 is a mess. It may offer more functionality, but that functionality isn't obvious to the eye or to the finger so its wasted. It's also SLOWER than Firefox (again). Why? Why can't Microsoft make a browser as fast as Firefox? Maybe they should throw up their hands and resort to an "add-ons" and "plug-ins" page or market.
Tim Beville report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

Oh, how The Mighty Have Fallen

Jan 02, 2009 21:17     

Google Chrome can only excel the loss.
xmccaw00 report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Wow, Firefox will soon kick them ALL to the curb! ...

Jan 02, 2009 22:21     

Wow, Firefox will soon kick them ALL to the curb! Jess
John Jonas report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

safari,i prefer...

Jan 02, 2009 22:37     

safari,i prefer
chris gong report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

I support this report

Jan 02, 2009 23:23     

I agree with this report which accord with my situation.
gao zhi report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Why use IE?

Jan 02, 2009 23:43     

When Firefox came out, it was instantly clear to me that it's a superior browser to IE 6 which I have been using until then. When IE 7 was released, I thought maybe I give it a try and was extremely disappointed. Now I cannot go back to 6! But that's Ok because Firefox has all the features I need in a browser. Opera is not fully compliant with Javascript, Safari has a few irritating features that cannot be customized and Chrome is very good but it is still in its infancy.

Bruce report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

Amazing

Jan 03, 2009 00:12     

Bigger is better.
Tom jones report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Monopolies Require Maintenance

Jan 03, 2009 00:30     

Let's go through the recent versions. IE 6 was nothing more than IE 5.5 plus an interface to integrate with Windows XP. IE 7 managed to not only alienate users with a new UI (which I personally consider to be an upgrade, but many don't). IE 8 renders even less sites properly than IE 7, AND the cluttered UI is sure to displease. Disregarding the rampant vulnerability reports that even Microsoft has been forced to acknowledge. Now, look at Firefox and Chrome. Firefox already had a strong base. Version 3 added even more features and UI refreshes. Chrome is getting shockingly faster and more stable with every upgrade. People want customizability, security, and performance. IE has none of the above. Firefox has 1, 2, and, to an increasing degree, 3. Chrome has 2 and 3, and will inevitably pick up 1. People aren't stupid. I will say that I am posting this from a Windows 7 box right now. My browser is Firefox. IE 8 works acceptably on 7, but not admirably. The only advantage IE has here is a tighter integration with Windows, leading to potentially better security and better interface. However, those were both true in Vista, and the security boost is negligible at best, and, given a proper release FOR Windows 7, I'm sure that Firefox will provide an equally, if not more, streamlined interface. Speaking as a traditional *NIX fanboy, Windows 7 is a truly great operating system. Nearly on par with Mac OS/X and Linux. However, IE consistently falls short. Perhaps, kill off IE and join forces with Opera or Firefox?

Duane Wills report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

So what...

Jan 03, 2009 00:47     

Does this really need news space?
Narg report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

What are the odds?

Jan 03, 2009 04:35     

People are becoming increasingly fed up with Microsoft failures...1.1 billion dollars, and counting, set aside for Xbox failures; the Zune debacle; Windows Vista; paying a 10-million dollar salary to a washed up comedian in an ill-conceived ad campaign. It's about time.
SkateNY report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Not true

Jan 03, 2009 05:00     

It isn't truce that Opera can't gain market share that IE loses. Net Applications is heavily US-centric. Outside of Europe, especially in Europe, Asia parts of Africa, we (Opera) are gaining users (and market share) at a good pace. As one example, check out Ukraine, where Opera 9 is now the most used browser in that country (according to Raking.com) - http://www.en.ranking.com.ua/i...ge&stat=22|OW

David Storey report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

in Europe, it's rather 59% / 31%

Jan 03, 2009 05:00     

According to Xiti which monitors 122k sites, the ratio between IE and Firefox is even much closer : http://www.xitimonitor.com/en-...-153.html IE: 59.5% FF: 31,1% Opera: 5,1%
Cyril report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +3

Enterprise web

Jan 03, 2009 05:31     

A lot of developers work and test with Firefox as it provides a very nice development environment with its plug-ins. Accidents do happen when they forget to test the result on IE (remember Amazon's IE problem a few months back). In some of shops I know, IT departments have switched the users over to using Firefox to cut back on testing (they used to do that for IE, too), as switching developers over to use IE is resulting in considerable resistance. Then, there are real cost saving features in a fully standards compliant browser, such as, formatting XML into HTML tables using CSS (and not XSL/T). Finally, the system administrators are already going for the more secure (or small target profile, if you like) alternatives to IE, so this does not come as a surprise in the enterprise. Still, while I would like to believe, that, the teeming millions of idiots who keep on using sub-par software only because it was pre-installed on their computers are beginning to stir from their slumber, I don't. The next version of Windows will pre-install the new version of IE on their computers, and they will be happy as ever.

Ferhat Savcı report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

ummm..i like opera browser way better

Jan 03, 2009 09:25     

opera browser is so much faster...and highly customizable the speedial is sick..i have 32 speedials on mine..and when you press ctrl enter you acces your sites with passwords ... yea thats it [How do you setup multiple speed dials? That feature would be of extreme benefit to me. -Rick]
thisbrowserstink report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

29 comments or 2?

Jan 03, 2009 20:48     

On the main page, it shows 29 comments, when I get here there are only 2. I've noticed this before on other stories, the comment total is not correct between actual article and main page.
Ronald Stepp report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

@Robert Jackson magnify text

Jan 04, 2009 10:37     

Firefox also magnifies text with ctrl--, ctrl- , and ctrl-0 to reset back to 100%
Ronald Stepp report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

None

Jan 04, 2009 16:19     

Percentage is now about pefect. IE is sill the majority, so it will get the most attacks. Firefox and Safari have enough marketshare to get websites to maintain compatability.
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

EVP of Traffic

Jan 05, 2009 08:50     

These are way off estimates like you would see with a poll. We track usage of browsers on our sites and IE is still around 80-90% Net Applications makes web applications that small webmasters would use, they really are not reliable for statistics because they don't have any traffic to count. Also they know that if they say that statistics show an increase in Firefox, that their press release will get posted all over the Internet. We need an independent third party like Amazon.com to let us know the market share for browsers.

Gerry Goodwin report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re: EVP of Traffic

Jan 05, 2009 10:05     

I bet the stats are fairly accurate. I work for a large corporation that requires it's users to use IE6. Even still, our website has up to 30-35% Firefox users on average and IE is 55-60% average. If IE spent more time on improving compatibility, improve Acid test marks and improving performance, I'd give it another glance. Until then, FireFox is where it's at. I love Google, but Chrome scares me. Only a matter of time before we get desktop ads.

Joshua report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Firefox addons

Jan 18, 2009 22:15     

I have a few addons on Firefox 3. I have Ad-Blocker, which automatically receives a list of annoying ads recommended for blocking. The result for me is very few annoying ads being displayed on my screen. Cookie Button is real easy to use, in concert with Firefox's native, fairly user-friendly cookie-management functions. Flashblock can be set to block all flash garbage, which saves old microprocessors like mine from having to display all the moving images. If there's any flash you want to see, just click the big, static "F" inside the big empty box, and then the chosen flash will play. I clicked on Internet Explorer's "Find Addons" function, and tried them all. None of them would give me any functionality unless I would upgrade to Internet Explorer 8, which I'm not ready to do. And, none had any positive reviews. Too spotty in Microsoftland.

neil report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

MS

Feb 02, 2009 12:00     

I'm sure MS doesn't care but this is good for all
Tom F report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

IE4 had add-on support

Mar 18, 2009 14:11     

Some people seem to think that IE8 introduced add-on support (like Firefox). Internet Explorer has supported add-ons since version 4!
Joshua Issac report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

http://www.go-gulf.com

Apr 23, 2009 02:35     

The impact on MIcrosoft is not that fewer people are using its browser. They don't get any revenue from it, after all. The impact is that significant use of other browsers - any ones, or even just one other one, doesn't matter - makes it harder for them to push proprietary browser features down Web developers' throats. Developers who need to support Firefox before long have to stick pretty closely to the standards - which, in the final analysis, are enough to do anything that anyone really needs to do. That, in turn, reduces server lock-in and will thus impact sales of their server-side software.

web development Dubai report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

who really cares about who is picking up the browse...

May 19, 2009 02:05     

who really cares about who is picking up the browser market share. IE6 is not declining fast enough, it is declining pathetically slowly for something that is so old. At this rate it will be 18 months to 2 years before we stop having to write sites to be compatible with it. :(
rodrye report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0