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Navigator still king=20
By Nick Wingfield
September 18,1996, 1:30 p.m. PT=20
Netscape Communications (NSCP) is still firmly
on top of the Web browser market, although
Microsoft's Internet Explorer is making steady
gains on Navigator, according to a survey released
today from Zona Research.=20
Browser market share figures have become one of
the chief score cards in the battle between
Microsoft and Netscape. Determined to take
away Netscape's early, sizable lead, Microsoft is
waging a fierce promotional campaign to build up
its market share by giving the IE browser away for
free and offering IE users free access to for-pay
Web sites such as the Wall Street Journal and
ESPNet SportsZone.=20
Zona's browser census, which polled 150
technology managers at U.S. corporations,
indicates that 83 percent of respondents use
Netscape Navigator as their primary browser.
Internet Explorer's market share has more than
doubled since February, with 8 percent of
respondents claiming it as their primary browser,
according to the survey.=20
Ironically, Wall Street downgraded Netscape's
stock today, causing it to plunge ten percent in
morning trading. Bruce Smith, a Merrill Lynch
analyst downgraded Netscape stock to "neutral"
from "accumulate" in the medium-term and "buy" in
the long-term, stating, "We believe that we have
underestimated Microsoft and that the window of
opportunity for Netscape to partner is closing
much more rapidly than originally thought."=20
The downgrading results in speculation about
Microsoft's most serious attempt yet to grab
market share from Netscape. The battle is heating
up, indeed: both companies plan to release beta
versions of upgraded browsers before year's end.=20
Stephen Audtiore, president of Zona Research,
said that Internet Explorer's market share gains
came mostly at the expense of third-party
browsers, such as NCSA Mosaic and
NetManage's WebSurfer.=20
The survey figures are roughly equivalent to a
browser census performed by Dataquest in May
of this year.=20
The August survey also shows that many
companies use both browsers, which indicates that
information services have not yet settled on a
standard, companywide browser, Auditore said
today.=20
"The enterprise has not standardized on either
browser," said Auditore. "Microsoft has made
some fairly steady gains since the beginning of the
year."=20
Zona also has posted previous browser surveys on
its Web site.=20
Today, Netscape also released a survey of
browser statistics at 25 Web sites that showed
Navigator with 81.5 percent of the browser
market and Internet Explorer with 9.8 percent.=20
Last week, Microsoft said two Web sites that
track browser statistics have shown marked
increases in Internet Explorer market share. One
of them, Interse gave the Microsoft browser 29
percent, up from 15.8 percent in July.=20
=20
Copyright =A9 1996 CNET Inc. All rights reserved.
--** History 101** Hiroshima 45 - Chernobyl 86 - Windows 95 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D "The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste, they have absolutely no taste, and what that means is, I don't mean that in a small way I mean that in a big way.=20 I have a problem with the fact that they just make=20 really third rate products."
Steve Jobs, Triumph of the Nerds, PBS Documentary Steve Jobs, Triumph of the Nerds, PBS Documentary
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