Does Firefox's Market Share Matter?
Friday, 7. April 2006, 13:04:45
According to computer trade press reports, Mozilla's Firefox web browser has passed the magical 10% market share figure. What does this mean and why does it matter?
First of all what's magical about 10% market share? Well, for one thing it's double digits. For another, market share for a web browser is important because of the revenue deals that it can generate with paid search. For instance, every time an end-user clicks on an advertisement displayed via Google, resulting from a search through the Google search bar on Firefox, Mozilla rings up a sale. In 2005 it is reported that Mozilla had $70 million USD in search related revenues. On that count it means for Firefox that every one percent of market share is worth $7 million USD in search related revenue.
For Opera with its emphasis on cell phone browsing the revenue equation has several parts. First, customers are likely to spend more time using the cell phone, which is revenue for the network operator. Second they are more likely to click on search related advertising which is revenue for Opera. Third, Opera gets licensing revenues for deals that put its Mini software on cell phones.
Mozilla does not have a mobile browser for cell phones that is a completed shipped product. Opera's Mini software for cell phone browsing may offer the firm a strategic advantage that takes it out some of the pressure of head-to-head competition for desktop market share.
Opera's total revenue in 2005 was about $23M USD. It is difficult to break out the desktop revenues related to search because the firm does not report them that way. Significantly, Opera changed its desktop revenue model in Fall 2005 dropping the $39 USD licensing fee for the desktop browser and opting for paid search revenues by building market share. Opera inked search revenue deals for the desktop and cell phone browsers with Google and other search engines. In 2005 Opera's revenues from Internet devices increased by $3.2 million USD over 2004.
Second, market share is important because it attracts independent application developers. Mozilla has long promoted the development of open source extensions to its browser. Since programmers have to make a buck to live, the develop applications for the "platform," e.g., browser, that has the greatest market share because that's where the money is. As Mozilla's market share grows, the number of extensions available for it reinforce its attractiveness to end-users. The more attractive a product is, the more people use it, and the more search related revenues it gets. So, it is in Mozilla's interests to promote extensions to build market share.
Opera's current shipped desktop browser 8.54 doesn't support extensions like the Firefox browser. That will change with version 9 of the Opera desktop browser code named "Merlin." Opera will offer widgets, which are desktop applications that work with the browser. Opera Widgets are small web applications run directly on a user’s desktop. With Opera Widgets you can quickly write small, focused applications that perform useful tasks. They can interact with online services such as news feeds, dictionaries or search engines.
"Merlin" is currently in a pre-beta stage called "Technology Preview." Weekly builds are available for anyone who wants an early look at the product. The Weekly Builds are snapshots, they are not as thoroughly tested as a Technology Preview or a Public Beta. You should only use these builds if you are not afraid of losing data (e-mail, bookmarks, anything) or crashing your computer.
Independent software developers will be able to make widgets that work with Opera 9. Widgets are a terrific way to address the market share building power of "extensions." It will be interesting to see if Opera widgets have the same attractive power to independent software developers as Mozilla extensions.
Both browser companies are in a race to build market share, and there is only one place it can come from, and that is at Microsoft's expense. The Redmond, WA, software giant is currently stuck in the mud with delays announced last month for the ship dates for the new desktop operating system code named "Vista" which includes Internet Explorer 7. Every month of delay by Microsoft is more time for Mozilla and Opera to build market share. It also gives Apple Computer, with its new Intel-based Macs, a window of opportunity to build market share. These delays won't last forever. Once Vista does ship the throw weight of Microsoft's marketing efforts will have an impact. Whether Mozilla's market share is retained or grows, and what happens with Opera 9, are developments to be watched with interest.
For the statistically curious, here is a summary of recent browser market share statistics.
Report: Firefox Past 10 Percent Share
By Nate Mook, BetaNews
April 4, 2006, 4:54 PM
Web analytics firm Net Applications announced Monday that the open source Firefox browser has finally passed 10 percent market share, according to the firm's statistics for March. The 10.05 percent usage was up from 9.75 percent in February. Microsoft's Internet Explorer still holds a commanding lead with 84.7 percent of the market, Net Applications said.
However, according to another analytics firm, Firefox had already surpassed 10 percent market share last November. OneStat.com reported at the time that Mozilla browsers had reached 11.51 percent usage globally based on a sample of two million users from 100 companies.
Despite the conflicting numbers, it's clear that Firefox continues to gain a foothold -- especially overseas. Internet Explorer, meanwhile, is continuing its slow slide. The ubiquitous browser held 86 percent of the market last November, and its market share of the browser has fallen every month except one since December 2004, when it controlled 90.31 percent of the market.
Over the last year, Firefox has gained an additional 3.34 percent of the market.
First of all what's magical about 10% market share? Well, for one thing it's double digits. For another, market share for a web browser is important because of the revenue deals that it can generate with paid search. For instance, every time an end-user clicks on an advertisement displayed via Google, resulting from a search through the Google search bar on Firefox, Mozilla rings up a sale. In 2005 it is reported that Mozilla had $70 million USD in search related revenues. On that count it means for Firefox that every one percent of market share is worth $7 million USD in search related revenue.
For Opera with its emphasis on cell phone browsing the revenue equation has several parts. First, customers are likely to spend more time using the cell phone, which is revenue for the network operator. Second they are more likely to click on search related advertising which is revenue for Opera. Third, Opera gets licensing revenues for deals that put its Mini software on cell phones.
Mozilla does not have a mobile browser for cell phones that is a completed shipped product. Opera's Mini software for cell phone browsing may offer the firm a strategic advantage that takes it out some of the pressure of head-to-head competition for desktop market share.
Opera's total revenue in 2005 was about $23M USD. It is difficult to break out the desktop revenues related to search because the firm does not report them that way. Significantly, Opera changed its desktop revenue model in Fall 2005 dropping the $39 USD licensing fee for the desktop browser and opting for paid search revenues by building market share. Opera inked search revenue deals for the desktop and cell phone browsers with Google and other search engines. In 2005 Opera's revenues from Internet devices increased by $3.2 million USD over 2004.
Second, market share is important because it attracts independent application developers. Mozilla has long promoted the development of open source extensions to its browser. Since programmers have to make a buck to live, the develop applications for the "platform," e.g., browser, that has the greatest market share because that's where the money is. As Mozilla's market share grows, the number of extensions available for it reinforce its attractiveness to end-users. The more attractive a product is, the more people use it, and the more search related revenues it gets. So, it is in Mozilla's interests to promote extensions to build market share.
Opera's current shipped desktop browser 8.54 doesn't support extensions like the Firefox browser. That will change with version 9 of the Opera desktop browser code named "Merlin." Opera will offer widgets, which are desktop applications that work with the browser. Opera Widgets are small web applications run directly on a user’s desktop. With Opera Widgets you can quickly write small, focused applications that perform useful tasks. They can interact with online services such as news feeds, dictionaries or search engines.
"Merlin" is currently in a pre-beta stage called "Technology Preview." Weekly builds are available for anyone who wants an early look at the product. The Weekly Builds are snapshots, they are not as thoroughly tested as a Technology Preview or a Public Beta. You should only use these builds if you are not afraid of losing data (e-mail, bookmarks, anything) or crashing your computer.
Independent software developers will be able to make widgets that work with Opera 9. Widgets are a terrific way to address the market share building power of "extensions." It will be interesting to see if Opera widgets have the same attractive power to independent software developers as Mozilla extensions.
Both browser companies are in a race to build market share, and there is only one place it can come from, and that is at Microsoft's expense. The Redmond, WA, software giant is currently stuck in the mud with delays announced last month for the ship dates for the new desktop operating system code named "Vista" which includes Internet Explorer 7. Every month of delay by Microsoft is more time for Mozilla and Opera to build market share. It also gives Apple Computer, with its new Intel-based Macs, a window of opportunity to build market share. These delays won't last forever. Once Vista does ship the throw weight of Microsoft's marketing efforts will have an impact. Whether Mozilla's market share is retained or grows, and what happens with Opera 9, are developments to be watched with interest.
For the statistically curious, here is a summary of recent browser market share statistics.
Report: Firefox Past 10 Percent Share
By Nate Mook, BetaNews
April 4, 2006, 4:54 PM
Web analytics firm Net Applications announced Monday that the open source Firefox browser has finally passed 10 percent market share, according to the firm's statistics for March. The 10.05 percent usage was up from 9.75 percent in February. Microsoft's Internet Explorer still holds a commanding lead with 84.7 percent of the market, Net Applications said.
However, according to another analytics firm, Firefox had already surpassed 10 percent market share last November. OneStat.com reported at the time that Mozilla browsers had reached 11.51 percent usage globally based on a sample of two million users from 100 companies.
Despite the conflicting numbers, it's clear that Firefox continues to gain a foothold -- especially overseas. Internet Explorer, meanwhile, is continuing its slow slide. The ubiquitous browser held 86 percent of the market last November, and its market share of the browser has fallen every month except one since December 2004, when it controlled 90.31 percent of the market.
Over the last year, Firefox has gained an additional 3.34 percent of the market.
WIDGETIZE