Chrome should be overtaking Firefox within months, if nothing changes

Oct 4, 2011 18:21 GMT  ·  By

On Windows 7, it's already mission accomplished for Google Chrome, but it's got more to grow before it becomes the number two browser in the world, overall. But it's getting there, in September it chipped away more market share, mostly from Internet Explorer.

Firefox, in fact, saw a small boost in numbers, though it's a very small figure. Internet Explorer, in the meantime, is approaching the 50 percent market share mark and going down.

According to Net Applications numbers, IE, all current versions meaning IE6, IE7, IE8 and IE9, is still preferred by most internet users. It accounted for 50.97 percent of the market in September, though its share has been slowly sliding away for the past few years.

Firefox is not doing so great either, for the past year or so it lost a big portion of its market share and Mozilla hasn't been able to revitalize it.

In September, Firefox's market share rose to 21.06 percent from 21.03 percent, hardly notable, but the only growth it's seen in half a year.

Still, given Google Chrome's rise, perhaps Firefox steady slice should be a good sign. Chrome now commands 15.17 percent of the market, the largest number to date. It's been growing for every month straight since it was launched three years ago.

If you look at StatCounter's numbers, the picture is even more defined. The analytics company puts IE use at 41.66 percent across the sites that use its tools.

Meanwhile, Firefox has 26.79 percent, a bigger figure than what Net Applications is proposing. That said, this number is falling as well and Chrome, with 23.61 percent of the market, is getting very close.

Google Chrome's growth seems to be slowing down a bit, but it's probably not enough to stop it in its tracks and, unless something unforeseen happens, it will overtake Firefox within months, no matter whose numbers you trust.