January '09 Browser Market Share

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 02:50:00 GMT

NetApplications released browser market share numbers for January 2009. As you might expect, Internet Explorer still has a hefty lead with 67.55% total market share, followed by Firefox (21.53%), Safari (8.29%), Chrome (1.12%) and Opera (0.70%).

The real story in all this, as others have mentioned, is the substantial growth seen by Firefox over the past year and the general decline in usage of Internet Explorer. Back in March 2008, IE had a nearly 75% maket share while Firefox had nearly 18%. Compare that to the information presented above and you'll see the dramatic nature of the shift. While the September release of Google's Chrome has made a slight dent in the total browser share, Safari has grown nearly 70% since March 2008,

Firefox With 20% Market Share In November (2008)

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:02:00 GMT

Net Applications reports that for the first time ever, the Firefox browser exceeded a 20% share for a full month. Microsoft's IE still led the way with 69.77%. Firefox at 20.78% was followed by Safari (7.13%), Chrome (0.83%) and Opera (0.71%) for the top five browsers.

According to Mozilla CEO John Lilly, ""Reaching 20 percent worldwide market share is a significant milestone for Firefox and Mozilla. It's a huge achievement by the global Mozilla community, one that just a few years ago most would have considered impossible. The open web is more vibrant than ever, and the thousands of Mozilla contributors around the world have played a major role in making it that way."

Net Applications analysis highlights four potential reasons for the increase, including the U.S. election (usage increased in the days surrounding November 4), Thanksgiving (Firefox share increase starting on the 26th into the next month), extra weekend days (November had ten weekend days instead of the average 8.57), and higher unemployment.

'Net Features : browser market share

January '09 Browser Market Share

Firefox With 20% Market Share In November (2008)