Chrome Dominates Browser Market Share While Edge Sputters Even With Windows At 91 Percent OS Share

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Most PCs may run some variant of Microsoft Windows operating system, but Google's Chrome browser still rules the internet browser roost. According to various studies conducted by StatCounter and NetMarketShare, Chrome tightly holds onto nearly 60% of the market share. Microsoft Edge, however, barely claimed a 5% share, despite the fact that 91% of PCs are running a Windows OS of some version. 

Chrome enjoyed dominance this past year throughout all regions and over various device categories. StatCounter claims that Google Chrome enjoys a 53.91% total share, while NetMarketShare argues that the browser currently maintains 59.49%. These percentages vary by specific regions and devices, nevertheless, Google Chrome appears to be the overwhelming browser favorite. 

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(Click to Enlarge) Source: StatCounter Global Stats

There are only a few instances when Chrome does not completely dominate the market. Safari is the preferred browser for tablets worldwide. According to StatCounter, Apple’s web browser in this category rings in at 59.2% while Chrome only brings in a meager 24.37% share. Americans in general did prefer Google Chrome for the majority of their devices, but the margin was significantly less than in other regions. 

Who is the runner-up in this battle of the browsers? StatCounter argues that Safari is the second most popular browser with a 14.41% worldwide share, however, NetMarketShare contends that Internet Explorer holds 16.84%. These discrepancies could largely be due to their number of partner websites. StatCounter relies on information from 2.5 million websites, while NetMarketShare only evaluates 20,000.

Microsoft Edge was the web browser that was included with the release of Windows 10, and adoption of the browser has been slow and unenthusiastic. Although Microsoft Edge was released in 2015, the browser only reached the 5% mark in the last year. According to NetMarketShare, the browser's popularity increased by just 0.50% this past year. This meager growth, however, has done nothing to curb Google Chrome’s dominance.