FIREFOX TAKES LEAD OVER INTERNET EXPLORER

Internet Explorer has been seeing some pressure in the form of incremental gains in market share from competing browsers such as Firefox, Safari and Chrome for some time. In September, Internet Explorer’s global market share had degraded below 50% with particular losses being experienced in the European market as demonstrated by a 6% drop compared to the same period in 2009. In December, it looks like Firefox was able to take advantage of IE’s vulnerability to supplant the browser in the European market for the first time.

StatCounter, the free website analytics company, reported that Firefox took the number one spot with 38.11% of the European market compared to IE’s 37.52%. Internet Explorer experienced nearly a 3% drop from September which allowed Firefox to edge up ahead of the previously dominant browser. Interestingly enough, Firefox can thank Google’s Chrome according to Aodhan Cullen, StatCounter’s CEO, who says:

This appears to be happening because Google’s Chrome is stealing share from Internet Explorer while Firefox is mainly maintaining its existing share.

When you look at the gains of Chrome in Europe the numbers speak for themselves. As of December, Chrome had 14.58% market share in Europe compared to its previous market share during the same time last year of only 5.06%. Don’t expect Microsoft to put up a white flag anytime soon, though. When you look at North America it is clear that Internet Explorer maintains a dominant lead over other browsers with 48.92% market share compared to Firefox (26.7%) and Chrome (12.82%). If IE’s market share continues to erode in North America, Microsoft’s browser may soon find itself fighting a bloodier browser war on the home front as well.