Market Share of Technology

Today's world of technology is a highly competitive landscape. Consumers now have a choice of many different companies that each offer a unique type of service. Within each domain, there is a winner. Below, I will be discussing the market share leaders for Internet Browsers, Mobile Vendors, Operating Systems (non-mobile), and Mobile Operating System based on both internet and referral traffic tracked by Statcounter.

For some of you, these findings may be a surprise. For some of you, perhaps not. Let's begin!

Browser Market Share

With Google Chrome's launch in 2008, it has rapidly become the most popular browser used for non-mobile devices. Given its sleek design, unique features, such as incognito mode, and its in-browser applications, it is no surprise that Chrome has been able to capture market share from many of its competitors. While Mozilla Firefox, Apple's Safari, and Opera have remained relatively constant in market share, Microsoft's Internet Explorer has taken the biggest over the past couple of years.

Mobile Vendor Market Share

The Mobile Vendor playing field has indeed been the intense. As of January 2012, prior to Nokia's acquisition by Microsoft, the battle for market share between Nokia, Samsung, and Apple was separated by only a few percentage points. In my opinion, consumers in the developed world often disregard brands such as Nokia as it may not produce a product that directly pertains to them. However, given that the vast majority of the world is still developing, it should not be surprising to see the low cost alternative of Nokia to be appealing. 

Operating System (non-mobile) Market Share

Very similar to the Nokia situation, some may be surprised to see how dominant Microsoft OS actually is. Given that most college auditoriums are flooded by a sea of Macs, we see that in actuality, Windows is still the standard. What is interesting is to see how relevant Windows XP is, given it was released back in 2001. However, Microsoft recently announced that it would soon cease support on the XP OS, which may tempt current users to switch.

Mobile Operating System Market Share

Android OS and iOS are currently the two most popular mobile operating systems, accounting for 2/3 of all mobile devices. It is interesting to note that although Android is the market leader, Apple is the leader in the US and the UK. This again sheds light on the socio-economic limitations individuals have on the choice of their products. Given that Apple's iPhone is generally more expensive, the proportion of individuals in developing countries who cannot afford Apple's products is apparent. 

Overall, we are able to get a glimpse of the heavily competitive landscape that is Technology. We can see that although some companies are dominant in some countries, it does not mean it can retain the same dominance in other countries. Although globalization is apparent, it seems that technology vendors are not forgetting to cater directly to its customers, but who knows what the profile of these customers will be in 5 years? 10 years? 25 years? We'll just have to wait.

*Infographics obtained from KISSmetrics