Digital technology enthusiasts must have heard Lei Jun’s famous saying: “There is no smartphone company in the world that can reverse its sales decline, except Xiaomi!”
Although this statement primarily refers to Xiaomi’s smartphones and hardware, its applicability extends beyond that to software as well. This article focuses on desktop browsers.
Before 2008, Microsoft was the undisputed leader in this field, with its Internet Explorer browser enjoying a dominant market share of around 80% (see graph). However, 2008 marked the beginning of strong competition for Microsoft’s IE browser, leading to a decline in market share and a turnaround in fortunes.
On September 2, 2008, Google officially released the Chrome browser, marking the beginning of Microsoft’s decline in the desktop browser market. By the second quarter of 2015, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) browser had dropped to a market share of 20%, while Google’s Chrome rose to 53%, completely reversing the landscape.
However, Microsoft did not concede defeat. In July 2015, the company regrouped and launched the Microsoft Edge browser. On January 15, 2020, they officially released a new version of Microsoft Edge based on the Chromium engine.
Despite its release, Microsoft Edge’s market share growth remained slow. By the second quarter of 2019, Microsoft Edge held less than 5% of the market share, while Google Chrome’s share had surged to 71%.
Since then, the market share of Microsoft Edge browser has been slowly increasing, but as of the end of 2023, it has remained around 10%, while Google Chrome’s market share has stabilized at about 65%.
Since then, the market shares of both sides have stabilized with a significant gap, making it difficult to imagine any major moves by Microsoft to change or reverse this situation in the short term, suggesting a dim outlook.
However, fortunes changed in 2024 with a major and profound variable emerging in the global tech industry: AI. Microsoft seized this opportunity, investing heavily and partnering with OpenAI, which resulted in tremendous success.
In recent years, Microsoft has begun deeply integrating AI into its ecosystem, including Windows operating systems and Office software. This integration extends to Copilot, even within Microsoft Edge browser, where Microsoft significantly leads Google in AI integration progress.
As a result, the user experience of Microsoft Edge now notably surpasses that of Google Chrome, and its market share has begun to show faster and more pronounced growth.
In October 2023, Microsoft Edge held a market share of 10.8%. By July 2024, this share had increased to 13.75%, nearly reaching 14% (see chart below). Although this represents a modest 3% increase, it marks a significant achievement.
Moreover, Microsoft Edge continues to exhibit a strong upward trend in market share growth and is highly likely to surpass 15% within the year.
This milestone is crucial, representing an important benchmark. Achieving a 15% market share indicates a solid foothold, with true success seen when reaching 20%.
Nevertheless, Microsoft cannot be overly optimistic about the current situation. While Microsoft Edge has seen significant market share increases, these gains have not come at the expense of its longtime rival, Google Chrome.
Over the past two years, Google Chrome’s market share has remained relatively stable, hovering around 65%, indicating a solid base. This means that the additional market share captured by Microsoft Edge has primarily been at the expense of smaller browsers such as Safari, Firefox, and Opera.
This situation aligns with a popular saying in the digital community: when the top two fight, it’s the third and fourth that suffer.
Overall, while Microsoft Edge still trails significantly behind Google Chrome in market share, Microsoft has transitioned from a passive to an active position. With AI as a significant advantage, there is a possibility for Microsoft to gradually catch up and surpass Google in the future.
Related:
- Edge vs Chrome: Which Browser Truly Comes Out on Top?
- Why Edge AI Systems Rely on SRAM Compute in Memory
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