Firefox losing share, So who uses Firefox?

[Mobile]

Firefox is losing browser share, this time it’s not to Internet Explorer but to Apple’s Safari. Last January, the share came down to 13.7% from 14%. In 2005, Firefox was losing its share to Internet Explorer but in 2006 they gained their progress back on track by big margin (See e-Week, Information Week, IT News). In 2005, Firefox share was approximately 8%, Safari 2%, Internet Explorer 87% and remaining for Netscape and opera (See PC World, Internet News). Currently Firefox accounts for approximately 14%, Safari 5% and Internet Explorer 80% (See PC World). Safari is gaining a little ground because of the growth in Apple’s Macintosh.

So, who exactly is using Firefox? When I looked at the browser usage for LyteByte, it shows a share of 62% for Firefox but the worldwide usage is less than 13%.


Why there is a big difference? Since this is a site on technology, people who visit this site will be people who follow tech news. These are the people who read blogs and technology sites and hence they are influenced by the programs such as Spread Firefox. Others are the kind of people who are loyal to open source and they use Firefox.

The features of add-ons and themes in Firefox do add the usability and enhance the interface but most of the people still stick to Internet Explorer. Does that mean that people who use Internet explorer are ignorant of Firefox? By no means can one come to this conclusion. Internet Explorer gives all what the nominal online user wants and they are satisfied with that. So they don’t search for another browser and with the introduction of IE7, many people started going back to IE. People who use Firefox are people who just wanted to try something new and they stuck to it. Firefox with too many features is little annoying sometimes. Once I saw a photo of a Firefox browser, half the screen was filled with the add-on’s menu and the content of the page was barely visible.

So, Internet Explorer is for the common people and Firefox is for the uncommon people.

[xrdguy]

this is hype.. firefox is gaining share according to pc review now firefox has 18% share in 2008

[dfreddie]

Well I cant say much about the statistics but after seeing this thread I decided to ask some of my friends about this and I found like me none of them had actually ever heard of 'Safari'- the browser you are talking about.
Thus when there is hardly any mass awareness about something how can I agree this is getting more share than Firefox. On the contrary I witness more and more people switching to Firefox from their regular IE.

[giberling17]

firefox is the best browser

[GetRaz]

FireFox 4 Life!