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With my recent Chromia research in mind it’s time to study the browser stats for Q3 and Q4 2014, as always according to StatCounter. For the first time I give consolidated browser stats across all devices.
Headlines:
The first table aggregates desktop, mobile and tablet data. I made two assumptions:
With that out of the way, here are the stats:
| Browser | Q4 2014 | ch | Q3 2014 | ch | Q2 2014 | ch | Q1 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Chrome | 37% | +2 | 35% | -1 | 36% | +1 | 35% |
| IE | 14% | -2 | 16% | 0 | 16% | -2 | 18% |
| Safari iOS | 12% | +1 | 11% | +1 | 10% | +1 | 9% |
| Firefox | 11% | -1 | 12% | -2 | 14% | 0 | 14% |
| Android WebKit | 7% | 0 | 7% | 0 | 7% | 0 | 7% |
| Other Chromia | 5% | +1 | 4% | +1 | 3% | +1 | 2% |
| Safari Mac | 3% | 0 | 3% | 0 | 3% | -1 | 4% |
| UC | 3% | 0 | 3% | 0 | 3% | 0 | 3% |
| Opera Mini | 3% | 0 | 3% | 0 | 3% | 0 | 3% |
| Opera full | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% |
| Nokia | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% |
| Other | 3% | -1 | 4% | +1 | 3% | 0 | 3% |
| Volatility | 4% | 3% | 3% |
Even with half of mobile Chrome assigned to Other Chromia, Google Chrome is still gaining market share. So does Safari iOS, while IE and Firefox lose, to the point where Firefox and Safari iOS swapped places in Q4.
Why is that? It’s mostly due to desktop as a whole losing market share to mobile, and IE and especially Firefox are just not very important on mobile.
| Devices | Q4 2014 | ch | Q3 2014 | ch | Q2 2014 | ch | Q1 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop | 62% | -3 | 65% | -4 | 69% | -2 | 71% |
| Mobile | 31% | +3 | 28% | +3 | 25% | +3 | 22% |
| Tablet | 7% | 0 | 7% | +1 | 6% | 0 | 6% |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1% |
| Volatility | 3% | 4% | 3% |
As has been widely reported tablet sales are dwindling. This is reflected in the stats: tablets as a whole hardly won any market share in 2014. I doubt whether 2015 will bring much relief. I assume that mobile will profit most from desktop’s continuing decline.
While we’re at it we can also calculate the five rendering engines’ shares:
| Engine | Q4 2014 | ch | Q3 2014 | ch | Q2 2014 | ch | Q1 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blink | 43% | +3 | 40% | 0 | 40% | +2 | 38% |
| WebKit | 26% | +1 | 25% | +1 | 24% | 0 | 24% |
| MSHTML | 14% | -2 | 16% | 0 | 16% | -2 | 18% |
| Gecko | 11% | -1 | 12% | -2 | 14% | 0 | 14% |
| Presto | 3% | 0 | 3% | 0 | 3% | 0 | 3% |
| Various | 3% | -1 | 4% | +1 | 3% | 0 | 3% |
| Volatility | 4% | 2% | 2% |
WebKit’s growth is due to Safari on iOS, which profits from the continued growth of mobile.
I would like Blink to stay below 50%. I’m not sure if I’m going to get my wish, though.
On mobile the victory of the Chromia is now complete. Collectively, they are the largest browser, edging past Safari in Q4. As I said before I guesstimate that about 50% is Google Chrome; the rest other Chromia.
Android WebKit is starting its slide downward, and good riddance, too. Still, it’s far too early to stop testing on it; it still holds one fifth of the mobile browser market.
| Browser | Q4 2014 | ch | Q3 2014 | ch | Q2 2014 | ch | Q1 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chromia | 29% | +6 | 23% | +5 | 18% | +7 | 11% |
| Safari | 24% | 0 | 24% | +1 | 23% | +1 | 22% |
| Android | 20% | -2 | 22% | -3 | 25% | -1 | 26% |
| UC | 10% | 0 | 10% | 0 | 10% | -1 | 11% |
| Opera | 9% | -2 | 11% | -1 | 12% | -1 | 13% |
| Nokia | 3% | -1 | 4% | 0 | 4% | -2 | 6% |
| IE | 2% | 0 | 2% | 0 | 2% | 0 | 2% |
| BlackBerry | 1% | 0 | 1% | -1 | 2% | 0 | 2% |
| NetFront | 1% | 0 | 1% | -1 | 2% | 0 | 2% |
| Other | 1% | -1 | 2% | 0 | 2% | -3 | 5% |
| Volatility | 6% | 6% | 8% | ||||
| Mobile | 31% | +3 | 28% | +3 | 25% | +2 | 23% |
Desktop is predictable: Chrome (now only Google Chrome) continues to grow; in 2014 it took 2% each from IE and Firefox. Since desktop as a whole continues to decline this is a serious problem to IE and Firefox, who don’t have much of a presence in mobile.
| Browser | Q4 2014 | ch | Q3 2014 | ch | Q2 2014 | ch | Q1 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | 51% | +2 | 49% | +1 | 48% | +1 | 47% |
| IE | 22% | -1 | 23% | 0 | 23% | -2 | 25% |
| Firefox | 18% | -1 | 19% | -1 | 20% | 0 | 20% |
| Safari | 5% | 0 | 5% | 0 | 5% | 0 | 5% |
| Opera | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% |
| Others | 3% | 0 | 3% | 0 | 3% | +1 | 2% |
| Volatility | 2% | 1% | 2% | ||||
| Desktop | 62% | -3 | 65% | -4 | 69% | -2 | 71% |
Finally tablets; as expected, Safari still outright owns this market. It is slowly slipping downward, but that’s mostly because it doesn’t have much room to go up. Right not it’s at two thirds of the tablet market.
| Browser | Q4 2014 | ch | Q3 2014 | ch | Q2 2014 | ch | Q1 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safari | 65% | -3 | 68% | +1 | 67% | -1 | 68% |
| Android | 16% | +2 | 14% | -1 | 15% | -1 | 16% |
| Chrome | 13% | +1 | 12% | 0 | 12% | +3 | 9% |
| Silk | 2% | -1 | 3% | 0 | 3% | 0 | 3% |
| UC | 1% | +1 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Opera | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% |
| Firefox | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% |
| Others | 1% | 0 | 1% | 0 | 1% | -1 | 2% |
| Volatility | 4% | 2% | 3% | ||||
| Tablet | 7% | 0 | 7% | +1 | 6% | 0 | 6% |
Also note that Android WebKit is still more important than Chromium in the tablet space. That’ll change in 2015, but it’s worth keeping in mind for now.
This is the blog of Peter-Paul Koch, web developer, consultant, and trainer.
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