The video above shows how internet browser desktop market share has shifted over the years. Back in 1996 it was all about Netscape Navigator, which was soon supplanted by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer which has in turn been supplanted by Google’s Chrome.
Visualcapitalist.com has done some interesting work and found the year each desktop browser hit it’s peak.
| Browser | Peak Market Share | Peak Year |
|---|---|---|
| Netscape Navigator | 90% | 1995 |
| Internet Explorer | 95% | 2004 |
| Opera | 3% | 2009 |
| Mozilla Firefox | 32% | 2010 |
| Safari | 7% | 2012 |
| Google Chrome | 71% | 2018 |
Interestingly, it looks as though Chrome will not achieve the 90%+ share that both Netscape and Microsoft did as usage seems to be declining according to some recent stats.
Also if you look at only at Mobile Browser stats you get a rather different picture. Here are the latest numbers from StatCounter:
- Chrome – 61.1%
- Safari – 22.88%
- Samsung Internet – 6.49%
- UC Browser – 5.15%
- Opera – 2.2%
- Firefox – 0.41%
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Wolli says
Many users are forced to use Chrome because many android apps require it, or only work on it. Its not the best browser but it is the only choice for many users.