Tech Watch | InfoWorld Staff » Firefox slips while IE gains

August 15, 2005 | Comments: (0)

Firefox slips while IE gains

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Has the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox browser run out of steam in its heretofore explosive growth at the expense of Microsoft's Internet Explorer?

Last month, Firefox actually lost ground to Microsoft IE for the first time since version 1.0 of the open source browser debuted late last year, IDG News Service reported, citing NetApplications.com, a Web site monitoring company.

Firefox's share shrunk to 8.07 percent from 8.71 percent in June, while IE grew its market slice to 87.20 percent in July from 86.56 percent last month.

Dan Shapero, NetApplications.com's Chief Operating Officer, said the surprising results may be just one data point in Firefox overall rise in popularity.

"It's just one data point, Shapero said. "It's a little preliminary to say it's a trend."

He pointed out that Apple Computer's Safari browser grew most, increasing its market share 2.13 percent from 1.93 percent. America Online's Netscape, which once ruled this market, slid a bit to 1.50 percent from 1.55 percent. Opera Software ASA's Opera came in fifth with a 0.49 percent market share.

Between January and June of this year, Firefox had posted monthly market share gains of between 0.5 percent and 1 percent at the expense of IE, said NetApplications.com, which compiles its browser usage data from more than 40,000 Web sites monitored by its HitsLink.com service.

Michael Osterman, president of Osterman Reaearch, an IT market research com-pany, said news of security problems in Firefox could have undermined Firefox growth. But Shapero disagreed, saying IE's security problems continue to be far worse. "You hear about daily breaks from Microsoft," he said.

"I'm really anxious to see what happens in the month of August," Shapero said.

Posted by Jack McCarthy on August 15, 2005 04:05 PM

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