Apple's Safari has retaken the lead over Microsoft Edge to become the world's second most popular desktop browser, based on data provided by web analytics service StatCounter.
According to the data, Safari is now used on 11.87 percent of desktop computers worldwide, 0.87 percent ahead of Edge, which stands at 11 percent. Google Chrome remains in first place with a dominant 66.13 percent share, and Mozilla's Firefox stands in fourth with 5.65 percent. Here's how the latest full rankings look:
- Chrome 66.13%
- Safari 11.87%
- Edge 11%
- Firefox 5.65%
- Opera 3.09%
- IE 0.55%
The stats look favorable for Apple compared to the same time last year, when Edge trumped Safari for second place by a small sub one-percent margin, owing to broadly positive reception of Microsoft's reimagined default browser for Windows 11.
Apple's resurgence in the browser wars corresponds to a marked increase in global Mac sales in 2022, despite supply constraints throughout the course of the year. Interest in the M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, and M2 chips saw Apple's Mac revenue hit $11.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, up $2.5 billion year over year.
In fiscal 2022, Macs earned a total of $40.1 billion, up $5 billion from the $35 billion that Macs earned in fiscal 2021. In Q4 2022, half of Mac buyers were new to the product line, giving macOS and Apple's default Safari browser significantly more exposure.
Despite Safari's surge, it has made virtually no progress in catching up to first-placed Google Chrome, which retains an iron-clad grip on the market, with its share down just 0.51 percent compared to the previous year. Chrome's popularity on both macOS and Windows platforms continues largely unabated.
