Browser market. Image: DALL-E3.
Google Chrome continues to be the leader in the browser market with a global market share of around 64.7% at the end of 2023. Microsoft Edge, with a market share of nearly 5%, leverages the Chromium engine to deliver a Chrome-like experience while integrating its own features to stand out.
Mozilla Firefox, with a global market share of around 3.3%, and Opera, with 2.9%, are trying to resist the supremacy of Chrome, whose dominance does not appear to be weakening despite the efforts of its competitors to offer innovations and attract users to this one Wikipedia and Statcounter page.
Firefox recently updated its data import capabilities from other browsers, as detailed here, while Opera is betting on integrating AI with its Aria chatbot to provide an enriched user experience. Too bad you have to create an Opera account to benefit from these features.
Safari and Samsung Internet: major players
Safari, developed by Apple, has a market share of around 19%. It is particularly popular on mobile devices with a market share of around 30% in this segment. Samsung Internet, on the other hand, has a market share of almost 3% and more than 6% in mobile, making it a significant player in the browser ecosystem.
Browsers are constantly looking for innovations to attract users. Opera, for example, has integrated AI to answer user questions and generate content in real time. Firefox, in turn, has stopped supporting older versions of Windows and macOS and is focusing on newer operating systems –
Undeniable problems; blurred perspectives
The browser wars are certainly driven by market share, but we cannot ignore the ability of smaller players to innovate, as we recently saw again with Arc. In this sense, despite having more modest market shares, Opera and Firefox continue to offer unique features to attract loyal audiences.
Chrome maintains its leadership position thanks to its speed and extensive ecosystem, while Edge benefits from its connection to the Chromium engine to remain competitive. This dominance of Google raises questions given the essential role these browsers play in accessing the Internet.
What is the role of the regulatory authority?
Although Firefox and Opera are further behind, they continue to innovate to stay relevant in this technological competition. However, because they lack the clout of Google, Apple and Microsoft, which market peripherals, they cannot establish themselves directly with users.
In this very specific market, one might ask whether the regulator should not intervene as with search engines. To what extent should devices not be offered with a screen that allows the user to select their default browser before system boot?
Xavier Studer with Perplexity.ai
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