By Timothy Prickett Morgan
Zona Research Inc, the market researcher whose browser market share data has been at the Microsoft antitrust case, says that whatever the outcome of the case, Microsoft has already won the browser war.
In its latest study Zona notes that in January 1996 there were nine major web browser makers all vying for a slice of a $200m business that had exceptional growth potential. Four years later, at least as far as corporate IT departments are concerned, there are only two vendors – Microsoft and Netscape – and no one is making any money in browsers because Microsoft gives its Internet Explorer product away.
In January 1996, when Zona first started surveying corporate browser users and got its name in the headlines because of it, Microsoft had a 2% share of the browser market and Netscape had 71% of the market. Both Netscape and Microsoft saw their shares go up throughout early 1996, with Netscape peaking out at 87% in April of that year. The company never recovered lost share once Microsoft turned up the heat.
By August 1996, Microsoft had 8% of corporate browsers and Netscape slipped to 83%. Five months later, all the other vendors were pretty much shaken out of the market and Microsoft had 28% share and Netscape had 70% share. Netscape’s position has been up and down slightly over the following two years, but their market shares seem calcified at 64% Microsoft, 36% Netscape. Zona says that 69% of companies have a corporate policy picking IE as the corporate browser and 31% have chosen Netscape Navigator. In either case, it looks like game over, Microsoft has won.
