Firefox is struggling to stay afloat against the competition. Since 2018, the browser has lost no less than 46 million users. A decline in popularity that does the business of Chrome and Edge, but which worries about the risks of monopoly.

It didn't take long for Chrome to establish itself as the reference browser. Shortly after its launch, it immediately took the lead in the number of users. Safari has historically held second place, helped by its default installation on Apple devices. Then, until recently, Firefox was quietly in third place. But that was before Edge got the Chromium kernel.

Since then, Microsoft's browser has taken Firefox's place and continues to widen the gap. It's no secret that in the last ten years, the vast majority of Firefox users have abandoned it in favor of Chrome, among others. And the trend is not going well. According to recent data released by Mozilla, Firefox has lost no less than 46 million users in just three years. They were 244 million at the end of 2018. They are now only 198 million.

WILL FIREFOX DISAPPEAR?

There are several reasons for this massive departure of users. First, Chrome is the default browser for Android, while Edge is the default browser for Windows, which already gives them a gigantic market share. In comparison, Firefox is only promoted on Linux, which is far less popular than its competitors. In addition, Chrome benefits from Google's power, which encourages many developers to adapt their services to the restrictions imposed by the latter.

If Firefox were to disappear, its death would inevitably lead to a near-monopoly of Google and its Chromium kernel, which, as recent anti-competitive practices cases have highlighted, is not something anyone would really want. Users would then find themselves without a real choice in their browser, while developers would have to focus on a single core for their projects. While Firefox has the advantage over its competitors in terms of web privacy, the privacy of its users would then be at the mercy of the Mountain View firm.

But Firefox seems to be caught in a vicious circle from which there seems to be no way out. If it can be blamed for not having benefited from significant improvements in its performance in recent years, the browser is especially a victim of the association between Google and Microsoft via Chromium, which forces developers to optimize their websites for it. The future will tell us if the latter will be right for the browser.

Source : phonandroid.com