South Africa's most popular web browsers

With a market share of more than 70%, Google Chrome is the most popular web browser in South Africa.

According to GlobalStats Statcounter statistics for device-independent market share, Apple’s Safari browser is the second most popular, with a market share of little over 13%.

The data analytics firm examines over 5 billion monthly page views from around 1.5 million websites to determine the top brands and providers in various industries and locations.

Chrome dominates the entire browser market share in South Africa, with Safari, Samsung Internet, Opera, and Microsoft Edge trailing far behind.

Google’s browser has a market share of 70.10% in South Africa, while Safari, Samsung Internet, and Microsoft have 13.06%, 8.33%, and 3.93%, respectively.

Microsoft Edge has a 2.43% market share in South Africa, while Firefox, UC Browser, and Internet Explorer have shares of 1.29%, 0.52%, and 0.08%, respectively.

The following graph summarises the South African browser market share. The article concludes with a summary of the desktop and mobile market shares.

Apple’s Safari browser statistics in the overall sector are greatly enhanced by its mobile market share in South Africa.

It has an almost 15% market share in this area, whereas its desktop market share is substantially lower at 5.76%.

Chrome’s overall share, on the other hand, is severely reduced by its smartphone market share. The Google-created browser controls over 77% of the desktop market, while its mobile share is around 68%.

Because it is only a mobile-based browser, Samsung Internet ranks third in the total market share sector.

It also demonstrates mobile devices’ dominance in South Africa.

The strong South African mobile market share shares of Google and, to a lesser extent, Samsung Internet are unsurprising.

Samsung leads the country’s smartphone industry, owing to its wide selection of affordable to mid-range handsets.

In January 2023, the company’s smartphones accounted for 49.07% of views in the mobile vendor sector in South Africa, a modest rise from 48.04% in January 2022.

Samsung devices include Google Chrome and Samsung Internet pre-installed.

While Apple and Safari are similar, the Cupertino-based tech business has a far lower percentage of the South African mobile market.

The table below shows the market share of Internet browsers in South Africa, according to GlobalStats Statcounter statistics.

The “Unknown/Other” browser area includes a “Android” browser, according to GlobalStats Statcounter.