Safari is the default web browser for Macintosh systems. It took this place from Internet Explorer way back in 2003. Safari is also the default browser on other Apple devices – the iPhone, the iPod Touch and the iPad. Since June 2007, the web browser has also been available for the Windows operating system. On this page we shall look at the Safari web browser statistics for both Macintosh and Windows operating systems.
Note: Except for one, all other graphs on this page are based on the usage of Safari by visitors to this web site. These stats and numbers may not be the same for your web site as it’s demographics would be different.
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The above graph shows the percentage of visitors (Windows and Macintosh operating systems combined) who’ve surfed this web site using the Safari web browser. The line is fairly straight at the beginning – there are no sharp increases or decreases in the number of people using this browser. But since the start of 2008, there has been a small though perceptible jump in Safari usage and this is especially apparent in the second quarter of 2010.
Statistics of Safari for Windows
If we segregate the browser based on operating system, a clearer trend emerges. In the early months of 2008, usage of Windows Safari shows a big increase, though still quite small compared to other browsers. This can mean two things – a preference of using this browser on the Windows operating system or migration of Macintosh users to Windows who still want to work with the browser they were familiar with; the latter reasoning being more plausible.
Sometime back I received an interesting feedback from a user named Matt who says the only reason Safari for Windows got a “big(?) spike” was because it was sneaked into the Apple (iTunes) update. This may be true but accidental installation does not guarantee people will use the browser, unless the installation also made Safari the default browser on that computer.
The good news for me is the moment a new browser is released (such as Google free web browser Chrome) it shows up on my web site statistics – it happened with Safari for Windows and also with Google Chrome (I got visitors using Chrome on the first day of its launch). Below is the comparison of Safari on both Windows and Macintosh systems.
Macintosh browsers war – Safari vs. Firefox
On checking the web browser statistics for Macintosh systems, I arrived at some interesting conclusions. Firefox for Mac systems also shows a clear and steady increase overtaking the numbers for Safari in the first quarter of 2007!
Firefox usage further increased during 2008 and early 2009. This was probably because of the tremendous boost it got from distribution via the Google software pack and the Google Adsense promotion.
However, in the mid 2009, the Firefox graph line has been on a downward trend.
Safari browser on mobiles
The graph below is the usage of Safari on various mobile devices – iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android, Nokia etc.
Global Safari browser usage statistics
The stats from two famous aggregators – NetMarketShare and StatCounter – show that Safari usage has steadily risen over the past two years.
Updates
March 2, 2009
Safari version 4 beta released by Apple which lead to a marginal increase in the usage but this was visible only for Macintosh systems. On Windows, Safari stats remained constant.
April 2, 2009
New… BIG news, people! Check the huge jump in usage of Safari for Windows. I know the total numbers are not something to write home about but the huge increase should make Apple happy. And, by the way, the irony is that on Macintosh systems, Safari stats actually decreased by a small amount. However, the total usage of this browser has gone up.
June 8, 2009
Overall Safari usage is flat for this month; the Windows version shows a marked increase which has been compensated by a decrease on the Mac. No specific breaking news to report excepting the exponential graph line for Playstation browser usage.
September 10, 2009
The Safari web browser produced the best numbers this month though the increase wasn’t much. In the mobile browser market, Safari is playing a kind of lead role because it comes with the iPhone which is the preferred mobile device for surfing the web.
February 1, 2010
Safari shows a minor improvement in gathering more users though there has been a decrease for the Windows operating system, which means the consolidation was primarily on Mac. Also, Safari takes the top position from Firefox which seems to be reeling under pressure from all fronts – I.E., Chrome etc.
July 10, 2010
Apple shouldn’t be too happy with the way Safari web browser has performed over the years. When it recovered the lost ground to Firefox, Chrome made it’s entry and that has resulted in Safari usage being quite flat. Google’s web browser, which needs to be downloaded and installed (refer Chrome on Mac), has been able to get almost 10% of the share – a great achievement!