Google's Internet browser Chrome, which celebrated its third birthday recently, is fast catching up in with Internet Explorer and Firefox in India, statistics provided by StatCounter, a research firm, show.
Chrome, which unlike other products is available for free, increased its market share to 26 per cent in the period September 2010 to September 2011 as against 18 per cent a year ago, StatCounter says. There are nearly 65 million active Internet users in India.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer dominates the browser market with a 45 per cent share, followed by Firefox's 30 per cent. But in India Chrome's adoption rate is on the upswing.
Mr Asheesh Raina, Principal Research Analyst at Gartner, said that it is possible that Google Chrome is moving fast in India due to the fast technology adoption in the country. With the recent spurt in the sale of netbooks (smaller laptops), there is basic operating system and Chrome is the choice. This could trigger the volume growth of Chrome in India, he said.
In the enterprise segment, Internet Explorer continues to be the preferred choice of browser while it could be Chrome in the home segment and small offices as it is available for free. Mr Raina said cost is a major inhibitor for users not going for upgrades of Internet Explorer.