Browser Wars: The End or Just the Beginning?

THE END OR JUST THE BEGINNING?For nearly two decades, the web browser has played a prominent role on the computer desktop, leading to what many have deemed a “browser war” between Microsoft, Google, and others.

A BROWSER WAR TIMELINE

Browser War I

1990

1994

Internet Explorer 2.0 is released.

1995November1995 1995

August

First non-beta version of Netscape Navigator (known in beta as Mosaic) is released.

Microsoft licenses Mosaic from Spyglass to create Internet Explorer.

Microsoft Windows 95 Plus! Service Pack includes Internet Explorer 1.0.

Internet Explorer 3.0 is released.

1996August

Netscape releases Communicator (combining Navigator with other products, including a WYSIWYG HTML editor and email client).

1997June

October 1997 Internet Explorer 4.0 is released.

MARKET SHARE (CIRCA OCTOBER 1997):

72%Netscape

18%Internet Explorer

1998

Internet Explorer 5.0 is released.

1999March

AOL buys Netscape for $4.2 billion.

November

2000

Internet Explorer 6.0 is released.

2001August

Internet Explorer reaches 96 percent share.

2002

Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 with security vulnerability patch.

2002September

Browser War II

2004

Mozilla Firefox 1.0 is released.

November

Netscape browser code becomes open source as part of the newly created Mozilla Foundation.

2003July

Internet Explorer 7.0 and Firefox 2.0 are released.

2006October

Netscape announces it will no longer support Navigator.

2007December

2008

Support ends for Netscape browsers.

2008March

Google Chrome is released.

December

Internet Explorer 8.0 is released.

2009March

May 2009

Internet Explorer

GLOBAL WEB BROWSER MARKET SHARE

62.09%Firefox 28.75%Opera 3.23%Safari 2.65%

Google Chrome 2.45%Other 0.87%

Internet Explorer

U.S. WEB BROWSER MARKET SHARE

Firefox

Safari

Google Chrome 2.16%

Other 1.29%AOL 0.52%

63.44%26.77%

5.81%

Internet Explorer market share dips below 50 percent.

2010October

2010Google Chrome 9.0 is released.

2011February

Internet Explorer 9.0 is released.

2011March

Firefox 10.0 is released.

2012January

May 2012

Internet Explorer

GLOBAL WEB BROWSER MARKET SHARE

Google Chrome 32.28%Firefox 25.39%Safari 7.14%Opera 1.75%Other 1.02%

Internet Explorer

U.S. WEB BROWSER MARKET SHARE

Google Chrome

Firefox

Safari

Other 1.39%Opera 0.66%

39.02%32.42%23.3%22.1%

13.53%

Ecommerce Websites and Browser ShareAlthough Chrome has put a dent in Internet Explorer’s browser share for leading ecommerce websites, perhaps the biggest impact has come from the mobile version of the Safari web browser predominantly found on iPhones and iPads.

January - March 2012

Internet Explorer 42.35%Safari 16.33%

Firefox 15.46%Google Chrome 14.42%

Other 0.06%

January - March 2011

Internet Explorer 53.45%Firefox 18.18%Safari 13.70%

Google Chrome 8.08%

Other 0.49%

No Rest on WeekendsOn weekends, when consumers typically have a choice regarding the web browser they use, Internet Explorer loses more than 10 percent market share, while usage of the mobile version of Safari increases 30 percent.

35.82%INTERNET EXPLORER

market share on weekends(April 16 - May 15, 2012)

16.75%MOBILE SAFARI

market share on weekends(April 16 - May 15, 2012)

SOURCES: MONETATE | STATCOUNTER

Firefox 3.0 is released.

2010June

Mobile Safari 11.12% Mobile Safari 5.84%