Google Chrome on the march as Apple Safari loses ground

by Stevie Smith - Jun 29 2010, 11:35

Having watched Google rise to dominate the online search market, and having seen its Android operating system emerge as a rival to be reckoned with on mobile phones, it comes as no surprise to learn that Google’s Chrome browser is becoming increasingly popular with computer users.

Specifically, the diligent number crunchers at StatCounter have this week revealed that the swift and streamlined Chrome browser is now the third most popular platform in the United States – a market traction improvement that displaces Apple’s rival Safari browser.

While still falling well short of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, which comes bundled as standard with Windows-equipped computers and holds a 52 percent share as a result, Chrome has managed to amass 8.97 percent of the market in just two years of existence.

Mozilla’s open-source Firefox sits in second place on StatCounter’s performance chart, enjoying a solid 28.5 percent of the market. Apple’s Safari has been dropped to fourth with 8.88 percent.

StatCounter has collated its usage figures via a survey of 874 million Web page views spread between June 21 and June 27 and across some three million different Web site destinations.

When viewed from a global perspective, Google’s Chrome browser currently holds 9.4 percent of the market, while Internet Explorer has 53 percent and Firefox has 31 percent. Apple’s Safari browser is lagging some way behind with just four percent.

It’s worth noting that Microsoft’s position at the head of the pack is eroding month-on-month and year-on-year; a decline likely prompted by an increase in alternative browsing platforms such as Chrome.

Internet Explorer’s appeal has been further damaged over recent months after the European Commission applied threats of anticompetitive practice to successfully pressure Microsoft into releasing ‘a choice patch’ that offered a widespread variety of rival browsers to some 200 million Windows users across Europe.

Back in March, StatCounter said Internet Explorer’s positioning in Europe had dropped 2.5 percentage points in the month following the patch release, with the browser falling 1.3 percent in Italy during that time, and a full point in the UK.

Around the Web