> Of the 20 lost percentage points, nearly nine were earned by Firefox, which now has nearly 25% share. Another nine were taken by WebKit browsers: two and a half were eaten up by Apple’s Safari (to reach 4.72% share), while Google’s Chrome expanded to take 6.7% (from zero prior to 2009). Opera gained nearly a percentage point in the same period (to reach 2.3%).
>
> Statistics [published](http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser-ww-monthly-200904-201005-bar) by StatCounter were even less flattering for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, which was ranked at a 56.57% share, with Firefox closing in with 31.29%, followed by 5.35% for Chrome, 3.63% for Safari and 2.25% for Opera.
via [appleinsider.com](http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/05/04/internet_explorer_web_browser_use_drops_below_60.html)
Remember, it’s all about momentum. Like throwing a ball up into the air. Slowing growth usually takes some time. But once a product ends up in decline, as IE clearly is now, the decline usually accelerates. Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7 sales aren’t going to change the tide for IE. It’s on its way down.
This means that Bing is effectively not going anywhere, since the only place Microsoft can push Bing on unsuspecting users is in IE. It also means that Silverlight is not going anywhere, either. Nor Windows Live. And on and on.
As I’ve said before, Microsoft is on its way to losing its entire consumer market. In a few years, all it will have left is the Windows OS and Office. That’s plenty to remain a very large and profitable business for years to come, but as far as Microsoft remaining relevant to new technology, the game is over.
