It was inevitable. Google Chrome has snatched the crown off Microsoft Internet Explorer and Edge as the most popular web browser in the world. With Microsoft losing its dominance in the browser space, it may explain why it made the hasty move to lock Cortana, its digital personal assistant, into using its new Edge browser.
According to data from internet technologies statistics firm Net Marketshare, Internet Explorer and Edge (the company combines the marketshare for both) usage dropped 2.05 percentage points to 41.35 per cent. Meanwhile, Google gained 2.57 percentage points and now has 41.66 per cent marketshare.
When you look back at the results from June 2015, when Microsoft’s browsers had 54 per cent marketshare and Chrome was only on 27.23 per cent, that’s a drastic change. Firefox isn’t faring well either as it currently only has 9.76 per cent marketshare although the decline isn’t as significant as Internet Explorer and Edge.
Internet Explorer’s popularity had partly been attributed to organisations using legacy web apps and systems that were only compatible with the beleaguered browser. Microsoft already recognised that there isn’t much hope for its aged web browser and had been putting all their eggs in the Edge browser basket.
Microsoft knows it needs to claw back marketshare in this area which is likely why the company has recently made Cortana use the Bing search engine and Edge browser exclusively, much to the chagrin of internet users.
No doubt this Cortana lock-in will see Microsoft regain some browser marketshare, but it won’t win any favours from consumers.
Comments
4 responses to “Chrome Finally Beats Internet Explorer And Edge As Most Popular Web Browser”
Why do they need to? As I understand it, they don’t actually sell Edge/IE separately, so how are they actually losing money by losing browser market share?
After installing any of the Window’s OS’s the first thing I do is install chrome. I only use Explorer/Edge if work requires it. I rarely give Firefox a look in.
I do use Opera a bit on my Windows work phone, but that’s because it’s the only browser that doesn’t crash back to the home screen. Even MS’s own browser wigs out.
Is this measuring users or usage? I can’t figure it out.
If only it wasn’t such a battery drain on the Mac.