This was actually unthinkable just a year ago, but it has happened:
Internet Explorer is no longer the leading web browser in the world. Google’s Chrome is. This according to research firm StatCounter.
Why is it unthinkable? Because Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has, for almost fifteen years, been the number one browser in the market. Sure it was not as likeable as Chrome or Firefox (both of which have rabid fans), but it came stock with Windows, and that alone gave it huge market impetus.
Well… that’s that. StatCounter reports that, on the pivotal date of March 18, Chrome took 32.7 percent of all browsing, while Internet Explorer held 32.5 percent, finally making Chrome the leading browser in the world.
“Yeah right,” you might say, “the only reason why the Goog’s browser is number one is because of all them millions of Android phones.”
And you would be right, because it is Android smartphones that are indeed fueling these browser numbers, which explains why the Chrome dominance is higher outside the U.S., where Android phones proliferate. But on traditional desktop PCs, research firm Net Applications reports that Internet Explorer still dominates with a 54.1 percent market share, followed by Firefox at 20.2 percent, and then Chrome at 18.9 percent.
But StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen also hints that Internet Explorer is dominant primarily in the workplace. Once people leave work, they go for Chrome, and in increasing numbers at that.
In other words, the writing has been on the wall for some time now. Observers have in fact been expecting Chrome to overtake Internet Explorer sometime later this year, but it just happened sooner than expected. And sure, Microsoft may be disputing the numbers right now, but the clear fact is that Internet Explorer numbers have been declining while Chrome has been rising.
However you spin it, this is the year when Internet Explorer has finally lost its market leadership in web browsers.
