IE market share now < 70%

Robert Hallock (Thrax)

January 2, 2009 11:43 AM ET in News, , , , ,

firefoxNetApplications is reporting that IE’s market share has dipped below 70% for the first time since they started tracking usage in 1999.

The decline is largely attributed to the Mozilla Foundation’s Firefox browser which now commands nearly 21% of the market. NetApplications explains some motivations for this November/December spike in Firefox popularity:

  • First, the U.S. election.  Firefox usage share increased significantly in the days surrounding November 4th (especially in some non-U.S. countries, like Japan), then held roughly steady until:
  • Second, the Thanksgiving holiday.  Firefox share jumped starting on Wednesday the 26th until the end of the month.
  • Third, extra weekend days.  The average 30-day month has 8.57 weekend days.  November had 10.
  • Fourth, higher unemployment. With an increase in unemployment, a higher than typical percentage of people are browsing from home than the office

Regarding Mozilla’s achievement, Foundation CEO John Lilly attributes their success to open standards, global contributions and burgeoning interest in FOSS.

“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,” he wrote.

7 Comments:

  1. Lincoln
    2 Jan '09, 4:48 pm

    Slowly, steadily. That's how Microsoft loses mindshare.

  2. Thrax
    2 Jan '09, 4:53 pm

    Replying via the frontpage just so I can see the sexy postbit.

  3. MiracleManS
    2 Jan '09, 5:16 pm

    I can't say I'm surprised. IE hasn't exactly been a blast to work with or develop for use with it. Mark that with the ridiculously long amount of time they let lapse between security updates etc, and you have yourself a winner!

  4. Khaos
    2 Jan '09, 5:21 pm
    Quoting Thrax

    Replying via the frontpage just so I can see the sexy postbit.

    Hawt.

    KEEBZ... BABIES?

  5. mas0n
    2 Jan '09, 5:56 pm

    Go Firefox Go!

  6. Leonardo
    2 Jan '09, 6:39 pm

    To be fair, Internet Explorer has improved a lot. 7 is much, much better than 6 was. Wonder where IE would be if it weren't for the competition from Firefox? A few days ago I was in a position where I had to use IE7 for a day instead of my usual Firefox 3.0. It reaffirmed what drove me to Firefox several years ago. Firefox is smoother, faster, and not 'clunky' like IE.

  7. Komete
    3 Jan '09, 3:48 am

    I use firefox and love it. That said, I do think MS hands are tied a little as far as what they can offer. Remember back when everyone was pissed MS offered too many options in MS paint? Monopoly this and that so they took out a lot of those functions. Same thing about windows media player. Or what about when xp came with windows movie maker. Again you had the likes of adobe up in arms.

    MS walks a fine line. It can release programs besides just an OS but it can't be good enough that it beats most of the competition or else the whole monopoly thing comes to pass.

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