internet browser, Microsoft's Internet Explorer, is on a steady decline in
India, a study by the Irish metrics firm StatCounter says.
The IE,
as it's ubiquitously called, has lost almost 20% market share in India in the
past two years, even as Google's Chrome and Mozilla's Firefox make strident
foray.
The percentage of PCs running IE in India dropped from close
to 70% in 2008 to about 51% now, the report reveals.
The drop was despite
an absence of any regulation by a trade commission, unlike that mandated by
European Union on Microsoft, this year.
In Europe, IE lost three
times more share this month than usual in some European countries since the
company was forced to mandate a ballot screen by EU in its Windows 7 operating
system. The ballot screen offers a choice between Mozilla's Firefox, Google's
Chrome, Apple's Safari, Opera and others, by displaying icons of rival browsers.
Worldwide IE's market share has suddenly started dipping and rival's
Chrome and Firefox's rising from this month post the EU regulation. Worldwide IE
has a market share of about 55% followed by Firefox's 31%, Chrome at 7% and
Safari at about 4% currently.
According to StatCounter, the
percentage of systems running the browser dropped in several countries since
March 1. India does not have any such mandate but still the erosion in market
share has been steady. Experts also cite the decline to slow connectivity in a
country already plagued by slow internet speed.
Of the 71 million
internet users in India, just 8 million have a broadband connection. Replying to
an query, a Microsoft spokesperson said that 'PC manufacturers and users around
the world can install any browser they want on PCs today.' When asked about
plans of implementation of a similar browser ballot in India, Microsoft said
that issues in the Internet Explorer case have already been the subject of
extensive legal action in several countries.
'Countries have
developed their own legal solutions. We are committed to complying with the laws
and regulations of other jurisdictions around the world.'
Meanwhile,
in developed markets like Germany, Firefox has already beaten IE while in France
it has lost close to 6% to Firefox and Google's Chrome since January this year.
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