The web is getting bigger, despite being founded decades ago. While people can certainly access certain parts of the web through apps they have installed on their phones, in general, the web is accessible through web browsers.
Since the first-ever browser war, tech companies began to realize how big this market would be.
Microsoft won at the time. By defeating Netscape, Internet Explorer became the new dominant browser, attaining a peak of about 96% of the web browser usage share during 2001. Internet Explorer had not remaining serious competition for its market share.
But sooner than later, after Google came up with Chrome and Mozilla with Firefox, among others, Microsoft's Internet Explorer began to see its demise.
But after Internet Explorer is pulled back and being replaced by Microsoft Edge, Microsoft is again picking up its pace.
And this time, the web browser has become the second most popular browser in the world, after overtaking Apple's Safari.
Being on second place, Edge is still far from the undisputed leader, Google Chrome.
Based on data provided by web analytics service StatCounter, at this time, Edge is used on 10.07% of desktop computers worldwide, 0.46% ahead of Safari, which stands at 9.61%.
Google Chrome remains in first place with a huge 66.64% share.
In fourth place, Mozilla's Firefox stands in fourth with 7.86%.
Edge managed to slowly dominate not only because it is powered by Chromium, the same engine that powers Chrome, but also because of its features that makes the browser unique, and also because Microsoft has made it the default browser on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Meanwhile, Chrome that is in first place, is seeing its user base increase incrementally.
While Microsoft's achievement is worth celebrating, the same doesn't apply on mobile.
Since the demise of Windows Mobile, Microsoft's lack of a mobile operating system prevented it to propel itself as fast as Google. According to StatCounter's analysis, Edge doesn't even make it into the top six browsers on mobile.
On mobile, Chrome is still the first, with 62.87% market share, whereas Safari on iPhones and iPads taking a respectable 25.35% in second place. Third, is Samsung Internet with 4.9%.
Putting everything together, Chrome leads the way with 64.36% share, while Safari comfortably lies in second place with 19.13%.
Edge on the other hand, is in third place with 4.07% of the total market share.
Trailing the top three, include Firefox with 3.41%, Samsung Internet with 2.84%, and Opera with 2.07% of the market.
Behind them all, closing in, include the likes of Brave, Vivaldi and DuckDuckGo.
