Internet Explorer falls to lowest market share since 1999
April was not kind to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer as it fell below 60 percent market share, marking its lowest levels since Internet Explorer 4 in 1999.
NetMarketShare has released its monthly report of how each Web browser is doing, and has been the trend for some time now, Internet Explorer (IE) lost a bit more ground. The Microsoft program fell to 59.95 percent, marking the first time it has dipped below controlling two-thirds of the market since 1999.
The data shows that since the beginning of the year, IE has lost 2.17 percent, and 1.51 percent of that has seemingly gone to Google’s Chrome browser.
| Jan. 2010 | Feb. 2010 | March 2010 | April 2010 | |
| Chrome | 5.22% | 5.61% | 6.13% | 6.73% |
| Firefox | 24.43% | 24.23% | 24.52% | 24.59% |
| Internet Explorer | 62.12% | 61.58% | 60.65% | 59.95% |
| Opera | 2.38% | 2.35% | 2.37% | 2.30% |
| Safari | 4.53% | 4.45% | 4.65% | 4.72% |
As you can see, IE is still the dominant browser by a wide margin, and it is doubtful that it will slide enough for any other option to catch it, but things are not looking good for Microsoft in the least. Firefox is sitting pretty much stagnant, and Chrome seems to be receiving much of the love, so you have to wonder how much longer Microsoft will allow this to continue.
For the last several iterations of Internet Explorer, the release has been tied to the release of Windows. With Windows 8 not expected until 2012, can Microsoft really afford to wait that long? Only time will tell what the company plans to do, but it does look like something will need to be done soon as this trend predates the beginning of this year and doesn’t appear to be set to stop any time soon.
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