A row of desktop browser logos

So how has the web browser world changed for the final month of 2012? Our second instalment aims to show you which web browsers your website should be supporting as we head further into 2013.

Note - the most up to date browser market share reports are here - browser statistics. Or, to have these updates delivered to your inbox how about registering for our excellent informational newsletter.

A lot of digital agencies can breath a sign of relief, as IE7 no longer features above 1% market share for either the UK or Worldwide. As to whether you continue supporting this browser, you should review your web analytics to see whether it is worth the frustration.

In other news, Chrome 23 is the most popular browser, IE9 is hanging in there whilst we're not really seeing IE10 feature yet.

Christmas has been kind, iPad use continues to grow and early figures in January show that the iPad is the 4th most popular browser in the UK, which will put it ahead of IE8 if that continues.

United Kingdom - Top Web Browsers (with over 1% of market share) of December 2012

Bar chart showing most popular UK web browsers in December 2012
  • Chrome 23 - 31.05%
  • IE9 - 21.1%
  • Firefox 17 - 10.83%
  • IE8 - 9.31%
  • Safari iPad - 6.71%
  • Firefox 16 - 3.8%
  • Safari 6 - 3.45%
  • Safari 5.1 - 3.06%
  • Safari 5 - 1.03%

In the UK, Chrome 23 jumps ahead of IE9 as more users upgrade from Chrome 22. Google Chrome now has over 31% of the web browser market share in the UK.

IE9 loses a little bit of ground whilst Firefox 17 takes over from Firefox 16 in 3rd place. IE8 drops from 10.5% to just over 9.3% and all those iPads for Christmas help that mobile device move up to 6.71% of the browser market.

Safari 6 moves ahead of Safari 5.1 whilst Safari 5 is just hanging on above the 1% threshold.

IE10 is beginning to make some headway and will start to climb over 1% market share. The other mover for January 2013 is the iPad, early figures for the first week of January show the iPad having over 8% market share.

Worldwide - Top Web Browsers (with over 1% of market share) of December 2012

Bar chart showing most popular web browsers Worldwide in December 2012
  • Chrome 23 - 33.03%
  • IE9 - 17.5%
  • Firefox 17 - 12.08%
  • IE8 - 11.48%
  • Firefox 16 - 4.35%
  • Safari iPad - 3.14%
  • Safari 6 - 1.96%
  • Safari 5.1 - 1.94%

Chrome 23 has really taken over, rising from 22% of the market to 33%. This is most likely more users upgrading from Chrome 22, as that version has now dropped out of the figures.

IE9 remains steady and Firefox 17 is now the primary FF version as people upgrade from Firefox 16. IE8 has lost a little bit more ground whilst there are more iPad users, over 3% now. Safari 6 is now the primary Safari browser and moves ahead of Safari 5.1.

All the above statistics are from StatCounter Global Stats.

Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash

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