July 17, 2007 6:52 AM PDT
Firefox gains at IE's expense in Europe
- Related Stories
-
Web leaders: Search is just the beginning
July 12, 2007 -
Microsoft eyes new ways to sell Office
July 11, 2007 -
Ballmer hints at Microsoft's future in the 'cloud'
July 10, 2007 -
Microsoft to partners: It's time to change
July 10, 2007 -
Don't be so quick to click that Web page
July 10, 2007 -
Solving the Web security challenge
June 28, 2007 -
Microsoft to release four critical patches
June 7, 2007 -
Microsoft releases 'critical' updates for new programs
May 8, 2007 -
Mozilla CEO: We are no 'Frankenstein'
May 4, 2007 -
Microsoft's latest spin on Web apps
May 3, 2007 -
Microsoft hints at general plan for IE 8
May 3, 2007
Since its launch, Firefox has been steadily gaining market share from the dominant browser, Microsoft's Internet Explorer. In the first week of July 2006, Firefox had 21.1 percent of the market. In the first week of July 2007, Firefox held 27.8 percent of the European market, according to XiTi Monitor's report.
"It's a nice way to get started on a Monday morning," said Tristan Nitot, president of Mozilla Europe. "I hope we continue to gain market share, as our goal is to promote choice. Monopoly leads to lack of innovation."
Although Microsoft still has 66.5 percent of the browser market across Europe, in certain countries Firefox has now become very popular--especially in Eastern Europe. In Slovenia, Firefox has 47.9 percent of the market, while the browser now has more than 39 percent market share in Poland, Hungary and Croatia.
Nitot said that a major factor in Firefox's success in countries like Slovenia and Poland was the support network that exists in them.
"There's a very active community there--there's active forum support online. Also, if you have a problem, people from the community will come to your business and fix any potential issues," Nitot said.
Microsoft should not ignore Firefox's market gains, Nitot said.
"I think it should be a cause for concern for them--our intention is to encourage Microsoft to get back to work and improve IE," he said. "We want a better Web experience for everybody."
Microsoft should also be concerned about the wider implications of the loss of browser market share as it makes hosted applications a bigger part of its business, said Nitot. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer last week announced Microsoft's intention to move toward Web-based applications.
Nitot said that Microsoft faces a complex situation at the moment, as it tries to redefine itself as a Web-services, rather than a software, company.
"Microsoft has recognized that, if it wants to be successful in the future, it should move towards the Web applications space. In the short term this is going to hurt Windows and Office. It's a difficult situation to be in," Nitot said. "Also, how is it going to leverage those assets to be more successful in the Web scene?"
Microsoft denied that it was concerned either about Firefox gaining market share in Europe or difficulties in redefining itself as a Web services company.
"We're proud to see Windows remains the platform of choice, in part because it provides our customers with the widest range of both hardware and software options in the industry," a Microsoft representative wrote in an e-mailed statement.
"While we think IE is the choice of hundreds of millions of people and businesses around the world because of the unique value it provides, we certainly respect that some customers will choose alternative browsers. Alongside a variety of user interface improvements, we've also made significant investments in better security for IE 7. These features, along with our world-class customer support, continue to make IE a compelling choice for our customers."
IE has been and continues to be plagued by security problems. People found multiple bugs in the latest version of the browser, IE 7, in February this year. Security advisory company Secunia notes that there have been 10 advisories issued about IE 7 up to July 2007, one of which was "critical."
Tom Espiner of ZDNet UK reported from London.
See more CNET content tagged:
Slovenia,
Firefox,
market share,
Poland,
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7
I can live with that, judging by the increased FF usage I see here (in the US).
/P
what value?
all the people I know that are using IE never, and I repeat... never heard of FF...
and allmost all of them only know how to double-click on that icon over there.... ;)
It has definitely helped improve the security of Vista. It'd be great to see other browsers use protected mode as well so that whatever browser you use access to writing to the OS is restricted.
Why abandon all those non-IE using potential customers to the competition? There's going to be more of them everyday.