Edge Dethrones Safari as World’s Second Most Popular Browser

BY Chandraveer Mathur

Published 3 May 2022

Edge Safari

Google Chrome continues to top the charts as the world’s most popular web browser on desktop, but we saw it coming, and a recent analysis suggests Microsoft Edge has snatched second place on the list away from Apple’s Safari.

Data accumulated by Statcounter shows that Microsoft’s Chromium-based Edge browser is used on 10.07 percent of desktop computers worldwide, while 9.61 percent use Safari. Chrome leads by a landslide margin, with a presence on a whopping 66.64 percent of desktops.

Edge had a 9.54 percent share in February when its popularity crept up, and it started showing unmistakable signs that it would surpass Safari as the second-most popular browser. Back in January last year, Safari had a 10.38 percent market share which is now down to 9.61 percent, showing the slow but steady decline in its popularity. Mozilla Firefox is also on a similar trajectory, gradually bleeding users and losing its market share despite a steady stream of updates, fixes, and feature additions.

Statcounter Safari dethroned May 2022

Safari for desktops has been plagued with bugs, user experience complaints, and poor website compatibility in recent years. However, a shot in the arm alongside macOS 13 updates which will be revealed at WWDC 2022, could turn things around for Apple’s browser. It could quickly retake the 0.23 percent market share it lost to Edge since February. On the other hand, Google Chrome has recorded an uptick in its user base over time.

On mobile platforms, though, Safari retains second place behind Chrome and ahead of Samsung Internet and other browsers. Chrome is used by 62.87 percent of users, while Safari for iPhone and iPad commands 25.35 percent. Samsung Internet rams a distant third on the list with a 4.9 percent market share.

A glance at the overall statistics shows that Chrome leads with a 64.36 percent share while Safari bags second place with a 19.13 percent share, while Edge stands in third place with a 4.07 percent share because it isn’t available on mobile platforms.

[Via Statcounter]