20 million embrace Internet Explorer 9 as rivals circle overhead

by Steven Mostyn - Jan 4 2011, 12:24

Quick to counter potentially worrying market figures associated with its Internet Explorer (IE) browser, Microsoft has begun shouting from the rooftops regarding the uptake of Internet Explorer 9.

Specifically, although the combined Internet Explorer portfolio is gradually shedding its market dominance, more than 20 million people have already snapped up IE9—even though the platform is still undergoing beta development.

Roger Capriotti, product marketing director for Internet Explorer, has also said that adoption of IE8 increased to 33 percent in 2010 (up from 24 percent year-on-year), although this is probably due to users of IE6 and IE7 upgrading their old browsers. 

Microsoft’s posturing comes after Web metrics specialist Net Applications revealed that Internet Explorer dropped 1.4 percentage points during the month of December, which equates to the browser’s biggest monthly loss in more than two years.

Although Internet Explorer remains the world’s most popular browser, thanks to a market share of 57.1 percent, it has plunged by a whopping 10.7 percent since IE8 was released in March of 2009.

Microsoft’s lack of momentum has enabled rivals to better establish their own browsing platforms, with the likes of Mozilla’s Firefox and Google’s Chrome now holding 22.8 percent and 10 percent of the market respectively. 

According to industry reports, Microsoft could well launch the final build of Internet Explorer 9 before the end of January, and may formally announce the release date during this week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Around the Web