IE Drops Below 30% Market Share for First Time in 15 Years

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Microsoft recently complained about distorted web statistics that put Chrome at an advantage over its own Internet Explorer.

While it has been fairly clear that StatCounter is counting some page views it should not count for calculating the browser's market share, it is apparent that the overall trend of browser market share is going upwards for Chrome, while IE is the only browser out there that is losing market share at a rapid pace.

Last weekend, IE dropped for the first time on StatCounter's charts and, according to my own personal records, is for the first time in 15 years below 30 percent market share. Last Sunday, the browser held 29.40 percent on StatCounter's charts, while Chrome climbed to a new record of 34.55 percent. Firefox, Safari and Opera are showing flat market share developments this month, while IE is down dramatically. On average, IE had just 32.70 percent share, followed by Chrome with 32.05 percent, Firefox with 25.32 percent, Safari with 7.16 percent and Opera with 1.75 percent.

Chrome appears to be on track to exceed IE's market share in the longer term by June. The takeaway is, of course, not the absolute number, but the indication that IE is currently the only browser that cannot hold onto its user base.

Douglas Perry
44 Comments Comment from the forums
  • spookyman
    Well maybe if it didn't suck so much more people would use IE.
    Reply
  • whimseh
    Can't believe it was even near 30% in the first place. Who uses IE? Only old people and the technologically impaired.
    Reply
  • classzero
    Death to IE. It's the only non cross-platform browser left.
    Reply
  • willard
    IE has come a long way, but I think it's a case of "damage done" after Microsoft failed to make any significant improvements for the better part of a decade, and allowed major security problems to go unaddressed for just as long.

    The IE brand is just irreparably tarnished.
    Reply
  • marksatterfield
    There are a number of sites that do not render correctly on Chrome... unfortunately. So using IE (or Firefox) is a "must" to use those sites. Chrome still has a way to go.

    http://www.marksatterfield.com
    Reply
  • Nakal
    You have to realize, many enterprise environments use IE as their standard browser. We still have a small few still on IE6 because of some legacy applications written by the Federal Government or now defunct private entity requires it. And the cost to replace is prohibitive, especially if for all intents and purposes, it still works.
    Reply
  • BringMeAnother
    whimsehCan't believe it was even near 30% in the first place. Who uses IE? Only old people and the technologically impaired.Never underestimate the power of status quo. People uses IE because it doesn't require them to change.
    Reply
  • ubercake
    Google has ways of getting their browser installed on user machines without them knowing it (ie default checkbox when installing java or some other software). Most people are ignorant to the fact they are opening a different browser altogether once that happens.
    Reply
  • -Jackson
    ubercakeGoogle has ways of getting their browser installed on user machines without them knowing it (ie default checkbox when installing java or some other software). Most people are ignorant to the fact they are opening a different browser altogether once that happens.Psh, it's just like people who don't read the small print on contracts :lol:
    But you know, even if they're not aware, I don't see what's so bad about it; I mean, who doesn't love Chrome? ;)
    Reply
  • torbendalum
    The thing about IE is that there are still a lot of business applications that run IE only, bad coding in my mind, on my work computer I run ubuntu but I'm still forced to have a VBox win7 to be able to do my work. My favorite browser is chrome but IE is the only browser out there that will run all the stuff out there. I really hope web developers will start making all their stuff browser independent.
    Reply