Browser wars: Microsoft Edge continues race against Safari for second place

What you need to know

• Microsoft Edge has made serious gains in desktop browser market share over the past few months.
• Said gains have slowed, but Edge is still inching toward overtaking Safari in market share.
• Safari has been on a mild decline since December 2020.

As told by Statcounter, Microsoft Edge is still on track to dethrone Safari as the number-two desktop browser — eventually, on the condition that current trends continue. The data from June 2021 shows that Safari currently controls 9.7% of desktop browser market share, whereas Edge is at 8.1%. Back in March 2021, Edge was at 8.03%, and Safari was at 10.11%.

These gains and losses are small potatoes relative to both browsers' previous spikes and dips, but they're steady trends. Since December 2020, Safari has been losing fractions of percents of market share, while Microsoft has been inching its way past the 8% mark since February 2021. The latter's progress is slow, and the former's decline isn't happening much faster, but the charts don't lie: The future intersection of the two browsers' lines on Statcounter's infographic is coming up, should the current trends continue.

If you're a fan of Microsoft and want to see Edge become the silver medalist, this is a big deal. However, if you're of the mindset that only first place matters, then don't get your hopes up for any miracles regarding Edge's would-be desktop conquest. Chrome remains the dominant browser on desktops by a massive margin, currently controlling 68.76% market share as of June 2021. Though Chrome occasionally dips below or rises above that percentage, it rarely strays too far from it, reasserting that the browser is at no immediate risk of succumbing to Edge's 8.1%.

With that being said, Edge does have Chrome matched or beat in quite a few ways from a functionality standpoint. Have you seen its Tab Groups or website sharing features?