Mozilla has reacted to reports that it will soon be surrendering its #2 position in the browser market to Google.
There have been some reports that suggest that Chrome will be overtaking Firefox as early as December in market share, at least as far as StatCounter market share data is concerned. Of course, this isn’t news, if you have been reading ConceivablyTech. Our forecast report has been predicting this event for more than half a year now and we still believe that Chrome is on track to pass Firefox in November and will be exceeding Firefox market share on individual days within two to three weeks.
However, the pressure has been mounting on Mozilla, and we received a statement from the company earlier today that is indication of the mood at the company: Attributed to a Mozilla spokesperson, the statement reads:
Firefox demonstrated just how important browsers are but it’s important to remember that the reasons for building Web browsers are significantly different from one company to the next. Mozilla is unique in that we build Firefox to provide a truly independent offering, focused solely on individual experience and the overall good of the Web. Firefox is holding it’s own in the face of increased competition, with 450 million users worldwide choosing a web browser that answers only to them.
It’s tempting to comment on this statement. Of course, some may think back to the Mozilla Q1 State of the Internet report, which stressed that Firefox market share is near 30%. StatCounter currently suggests it is below 27%. Since that time, Mozilla has lost share in North America from about 26% to 23%, in Europe from 39% to 32%, in South America from 31% to 23%, in Asia from 27% to 26% and Oceania from 29% to 25%. However, the browser rose in Africa from 30% to 36% and has just surpassed IE as the most popular browser there.
Given its resources, Mozilla is still dealing very well with the onslaught of Google’s Chrome, which has more than ten times the resources as its disposal than Mozilla can dedicate to Firefox. The problem, of course, is that the web browser is not just a browser anymore. Mozilla wasted quite a bit of time with Firefox 4, when it tried perfecting a browser while the competition moved ahead well beyond the browser. Microsoft is pitching IE as an app platform and Google is positioning Chrome as an OS platform.
Mozilla’s Jonathan Nightingale recently published some notes on Firefox and its competitive field. His thoughts were the most encouraging in awhile and show there is fire left at Mozilla and giving up is not an option yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment