Firefox and Internet Explorer Battle It Out In Europe

Microsoft’s latest browser, Internet Explorer 9, may not be enough to win its battle over Europe with Mozilla Firefox. Website analytics company StatCounter claims that Firefox has taken first place as Europe’s most frequently used web browser, standing now at 38.11% of the browser market.  It’s just 0.59% more than IE’s 37.52%.

Firefox has been a second-place contender world-wide since its rise to fame in 2005, but this is the first time in web history IE has been overtaken in a major territory. StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen attributes IE’s loss to another contender: Google Chrome.  “Chrome is stealing share from Internet Explorer while Firefox is mainly maintaining its existing share,” he says.

Prospects Dark for IE in UK, But Not US

Meanwhile, StatCounter projects that IE will see dark skies in the UK.  Judging by its December statistic, IE could drop beneath its usually strong 50% market share—something it hasn’t done in years.  As of December 2010, IE hovers just above 50%, trailing behind a gradual decline since January of the same year when it was nearly at 60%.  Chrome looks like an inadvertent cause here, too; while still lazing below 20%, it claimed less than 10% back in January.  In December alone, Chrome saw a 2% climb in its share.

This could bode ill for Microsoft, especially if its new pride and joy, IE9, doesn’t gather support soon. Such support, however, is likely to be had across the pond.  IE remains in the United States the leading web browser at 48.92%.  Yes, this is less than 50%,  but Firefox lagged behind in December at 26.7%.

Other Browsers

Meanwhile, in the US, Google Chrome finally had a 1.49% triumph over yearlong one-upper Safari.  The two browsers had been neck-and-neck since June of 2010.  It’s worth noting that many Mac users install non-Apple browsers just to avoid using Safari.  Problems include incompatibility with many sites, the inexplicable inability to open a new tab without quitting the browser altogether, etc.

Although Apple is generally quick to respond to hang-ups, Google may be seeing the dawn of being in the top 3 web browsers in America.  Globally, it stands an entire 6% above Safari, already joining IE and Firefox on the top 3 pedestals.