For the first time since we began tracking, the Firefox browser has exceeded 20% share for a full month.  Mozilla's CEO, John Lilly, gives credit to the Mozilla community and shared his thoughts with us on this accomplishment:

"Reaching 20 percent worldwide market share is a significant milestone for Firefox and Mozilla.  It's a huge achievement by the global Mozilla community, one that just a few years ago most would have considered impossible.  The open web is more vibrant than ever, and the thousands of Mozilla contributors around the world have played a major role in making it that way."

Firefox share jumped about eight tenths of a percent in November, which is much higher than average.  Why the big jump?  In addition to the steady gains Firefox has shown over the years, our analysis shows four other major reasons:

• First, the U.S. election.  Firefox usage share increased significantly in the days surrounding November 4th (especially in some non-U.S. countries, like Japan), then held roughly steady until:
• Second, the Thanksgiving holiday.  Firefox share jumped starting on Wednesday the 26th until the end of the month.
• Third, extra weekend days.  The average 30-day month has 8.57 weekend days.  November had 10.
• Fourth, higher unemployment. With an increase in unemployment, a higher than typical percentage of people are browsing from home than the office

All four reasons increase Firefox share since Firefox has a much larger residential share than corporate share (to be detailed in a future analysis).  So, all the above factors led to increased residential browsing and a higher Firefox share.

Even considering these factors, Firefox's share trend is pointing to above 20% share for December and beyond.

For these and other Global Market Share Statistics, go to marketshare.hitslink.com.

Interested in an even deeper level of MarketShare Global Usage Statistics? Send a note with your name, company, phone number and email address to sales@netapplications.com.