Here’s a nice article for the technical among us about Internet browsers and who’s winning that war.
Especially for the graphs at the top. Key indicators for me:
- Mobile browser landscape is radically different from Desktop browser landscape
- Safari has a huge mobile marketshare, which means iPods, iPhones, and iPads.
- Android has steady but slow growth, with around 20-25% of the mobile device market
- Internet Explorer is still the 800 pound gorilla
- Chrome and Firefox are still neck and neck, with a decent portion of the market each
- Interestingly, people are tending to keep IE more up-to-date than they used to
Results
Worldwide combined browser market share
- Internet Explorer – 49%
- Firefox – 17%
- Chrome – 14%
- Safari – 12%
Desktop browser market share (no mobiles/tablets)
- Internet Explorer – 55%
- Firefox – 20%
- Chrome – 16%
- Safari – 5%
Mobile browser market share
- Safari – 61%
- Android browser – 21%
- Opera Mini – 8%
- Chrome – 2.4%
More nice data available: http://
Version of Internet Explorer
- Version 10 – 3%
- Version 9 – 20%
- Version 8 – 23%
- Version 7 – 2% (this version is the bane of web developers the world over)
- Version 6 – 6% (Has been pretty steady over the past year – no new users, but they never upgrade either. Must be used to a lousy internet experience by now!)
When developing web sites there’s a whole range of factors that come into it – more than just “is it pretty”.
Browser compatibility can be a tough ask – and with increased mobile uptake it’s important to get it right.
Cheers
