Litmus.com recently released an infographic on browser use and popularity.  As popularity shifts, it affects which browsers become the default browsers for our devices, increases or decreases the amount of sites that support them, and changes the amount of effort that goes into the browsers maintenance.

Email Browser Use (Using the Browser for Checking Email):

  • Internet Explorer comes in at 51%
  • Firefox at 21%
  • Chrome at 14%
  • Safari at 13%
  • Other at 1%

This isn’t too surprising, as those who only use the web for checking email and nothing more wouldn’t have much of a need for an upgraded browser, and might simply stick with IE.  However this number has steadily decreased over the last year and a half and others like Chrome have increased.

From March 2011 to September 2012, Browser use for email has dramatically altered:

  • Chrome use has grown from 4% to 14% (10% )
  • Safari use has increased from 8% to 13% (5%)
  • Internet Explorer has dropped from 61% to 51% (10%)
  • Firefox has dropped from 26% to 21%(5%)

This is a large increase in market share for Chrome, and it may be a look at what is to come for Google in the near future.  As more Android devices enter the workplace via BYOD and organizations that prefer cheaper smartphones, Google devices and software will start to take an increasingly larger chunk of the market share. You may be thinking, what does owning a Google-based Smartphone have to do with using their browser?  Research shows that consumers tend to show a bit of brand loyalty once they use one part of a service.  For instance, Gmail users are more likely to use Chrome to view their emails than Internet Explorer.  Hotmail Users are more likely to use Internet Explorer than Chrome or Firefox.

It appears that Chrome and Safari, run by two of the world’s most powerful organizations (Google and Apple) are steadily growing.  IE and Firefox, two powerhouses in the browser market, are starting to trail behind and lose customers.  However, with Microsoft pushing their Surface tablets and Windows phones, and Firefox announcing their own phone OS for non-US carriers, they may start fighting back.  It will be interesting to see how important being in the mobile market is to holding a browser market share.