Statcounter Reveals Safari May Pass Microsoft Edge to Become Second Most-Used Desktop Browser

Over the last couple of months, Microsoft has been riding the wave of AI through Bing Chat and its copilot integration in Microsoft Edge. The company has been looking ahead and openly declaring war on Google, the dominant name in search and web browsing. However, it seems Microsoft should have been looking over its shoulder.

In its February 2023 report, Statcounter reveals that Apple’s Safari browser is close to overtaking Microsoft Edge as the second-most popular desktop web browser.

During last month, Google Chrome took 66.12% of the market share and is still the dominant leader. While it did decline as other browsers gained more users, Chrome only fell 0.29 points month on month.

Microsoft Edge is clinging on to second place with 10.84% but fell -0.24 points. Apple Safari took third with 10.14% and is up 0.83 points. If this trend (Edge down, Safari up) continues, Microsoft’s browser will lose its market position during this month.

Of course, Microsoft will hope the integration of the new Bing chat into Edge will drive users to the browser. Although, users are free to access Bing on any other browser.

Desktop Market Share

1. Google Chrome – 66.12% (-0.29)
2. Microsoft Edge – 10.84% (-0.24)
3. Apple Safari – 10.14% (+0.83)
4. Mozilla Firefox – 6.84% (-0.03)
5. Opera – 3.21% (-0.2)

On mobile, Microsoft Edge doesn’t even make a blip in the top five, with Google Chrome staying dominant and Safari doing well on iOS:

1. Google Chrome – 66.08% (-0.7)
2. Apple Safari – 23.97% (-0.45)
3. Samsung Internet – 4.37% (-0.09)
4. Opera – 1.71% (-0.06)
5. UC Browser – 1.46% (-0.01)

And the combined market share for mobile and desktop:

1. Google Chrome – 65.74% (+0.31)
2. Apple Safari – 18.86% (+0.17)
3. Microsoft Edge – 4.27% (-0.19)
4. Mozilla Firefox – 2.92% (-0.09)
5. Samsung Internet – 2.6% (-0.01)

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