Sony to Offer Google Chrome on New PCs

By Craig Buckler | September 4, 2009 | News & Trends

Google Chrome The market adoption of Google’s Chrome browser has received a significant boost from Sony. Following a deal arranged between the two technology giants, Sony will install Chrome as the default Windows web browser on a selection of laptops. The machines are likely to be offered in the US first with other territories coming soon after.

Chrome’s market share has increased to around 6% and is likely to overtake Safari and Opera to become the web’s third most popular browser (source: w3schools.com). Google has been heavily promoting the browser on web sites such as YouTube and we suspected they would instigate licensing deals with PC manufacturers. Sony is a popular brand and, although they are one of the smaller PC manufacturers, Google will certainly be pursuing deals with companies such as Dell and Hewlett Packard.

Google are in a unique position compared to other the browser vendors:

Although Apple promote Safari on Windows PCs, they ultimately want people to purchase Macs. The browser will never become Apple’s primary focus.
Mozilla is an open source organization. They do not have the same commercial and business pressures.
Opera does not have the same marketing clout or budget.

Browser statistics should be taken with a large pinch of salt, but Chrome appears to be eating into Internet Explorer’s share. Chrome’s success makes sound business sense for Google. On the contrary, Microsoft is suffering: the company has been slow to release IE updates and has been forced to provide a browser ballot screen in Europe.

Chrome’s future looks promising. Will we see a three-way fight between Microsoft, Mozilla and Google for the coveted top browser?

Written By:

Craig Buckler

Craig is a Director of OptimalWorks, a UK consultancy dedicated to building award-winning websites implementing standards, accessibility, SEO, and best-practice techniques.

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{ 16 comments }

anirudha September 6, 2009 at 6:05 pm: today i love only firefox’s version 3.5.2 not any other software
skunkbad September 5, 2009 at 2:44 pm: I never use Chrome. Have no reason to. Is there a reason to? After a few years of using Firefox, I’m really not that satisfied with it. Maybe that’s a reason. If Firefox wouldn’t run as a process and use 100,000+ KB memory when it’s not even supposed to be on, then I’d probably be satisfied enough to stay with it. Chrome just seems so featureless.
ejrodgers September 5, 2009 at 12:56 am: I reccomend Chrome to all my non tech friends (installed it yesterday for a neighbour of mine) and personally move between Chrome and Firefox. I like my extensions in FF. I figure once Chrome has a decent range of extensions (especially something like Firebug and Web Developer) and a Mac version it’ll take much more of the market.
I think it’s significant that a major manufacturer has decided to use a browser other than IE and it should send a message to Microsoft that IE’s strangehold on the web browser market is well and truly gone.
fendeanson September 4, 2009 at 11:58 pm: Google Chrome is by far the best web browser I’ve ever used. Maybe someday it’ll take over IE. (what a great day that would be :)
rozner September 4, 2009 at 10:22 pm: @Ramesh What do you mean by extra tabs open in a new Window. I’ve been using Chrome more and more lately, switching back and forth between Chrome and Firefox and my tabs are always in the same window. Also about the toolbar thing, I can’t stand extra toolbars so to me that’s an advantage rather than a disadvantage. I still prefer Firefox due to the extensions, but for quick browsing Chrome does seem a bit faster.
Ramesh September 4, 2009 at 6:34 pm: Hi
I use crome but i feel unconfortable because in crome if i open extra tab in crome its open in new window after some time its auto open in new window so i live crome and use mozilla and another disadvantage is in crome we cannot install toolbar options. So I feel uncomfort crome I hope google add this features in crome.
thanks
http://www.seo-websolutions.com/
Kumar ramesh
Craig Buckler September 4, 2009 at 4:26 pm: or Linux?
Jeremy September 4, 2009 at 8:38 am: Please don’t use w3schools as a metric. They’re tech savvy visitors and not representative of the real world. Chrome still hasn’t cracked 3%. This is much closer to real world usage: http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=0
Matt – developer builds are available. I’ve found them to be very stable and better than Safari already.
matt September 4, 2009 at 5:52 am: But when will it be available for Mac?!
flashmind September 4, 2009 at 3:55 am: chrome in my opinion is still buggy, and it should still be in beta, but google rushed it. It may be a mistake on Sony’s part depending on the end results. However I do like chrome’s interface, search, and speed. It is much better then any browser out there, but again it is also not compatible with some sites out there. Then again what browser is.
israelisassi September 4, 2009 at 3:49 am: I don’t buy Sony laptops due to a history of problems some of my customers and I experienced and seek not to repeat them so this has no effect on me. I do use Chrome for most things, IE where it works best for me. FireFox I only use for the Firebug plug-in..
Jacotheron September 4, 2009 at 3:42 am: Firefox is my browser for browsing and developing, although I test my sites on about ten browsers (although i do not provide specific support for IE6) to make sure it looks good. It will always be better on Firefox but will be not to bad in the other newer browsers. Chrome is like my backup browser (if firefox is to slow or can’t open).
Dan Grossman September 4, 2009 at 3:37 am: Microsoft should now pay Sony to make Bing the default search engine on Chrome browsers shipped with their PCs.
nachenko September 4, 2009 at 3:34 am: Chrome is the best browser for the average Joe. It’s the browser i’d tell my mother to use. The interface is the most simple, the rendering engine is probable the fastest one, and it’s the browser that lets you most space for the page itself.
Rodrigo September 4, 2009 at 3:07 am: I would still install Firefox and/or Opera and not use Chrome.
littrean September 4, 2009 at 2:45 am: All I have to say is, “yesssssssss”!