James Delahunty
2 Oct 2009 1:17
According to Net Applications, Microsoft's Internet Explorer web-browser lost more market-share during September while rivals Firefox and Chrome gained. During the month of September, Internet Explorer usage dropped by 1.3 percent, sitting at a still-dominant 65.7 percent. However, the browser has dropped 8.5 percent in 12 months, with 2.6 percent being in the last three months alone.
If Microsoft does not figure out how to curb the trend, then Internet Explorer's share will drop below the 50 percent mark in 2011. Mozilla's Firefox web browser gained 0.8 percent, its biggest gain for a single month since November, to claim 23.8 percent share of the market. Even with the September gain, Firefox has not yet recovered from a share drop in May and June - its record standing at 23.84 percent.
Google's Chrome web browser, which recently had a stable release, increased its share of the market by 0.3 percent to end the month at 3.2 percent of the market. In the last three months, Chrome has gained 0.8 percent - about half the gains made by Mozilla's Firefox. Apple's Safari browser just rose slightly with a share of 4.2 percent.
The Safari browser's performance largely depends on the sale of new Macs. The Safari for Windows browser accounted for less than one-third of a percentage point during the month of September. The Opera browser gained 0.15 percent to take 2.2 percent of the market during the month.