September 1st, 2009
Google seeks OEMs for Chrome browser; Sony signs on
Google has partnered with Sony to promote its sleek but little-used Chrome browser, according to the Financial Times.
The company is also in talks with other computer manufacturers, according to the report.
The move marks increased effort on Google’s part to expand the reach of the Chrome browser a year after it was first launched, and is one pawn in the epic chess match between it and rival Microsoft.
Microsoft recently launched its Bing browser in an attack on Google’s key search business.
The deal with Sony involves shipping Chrome on new Vaio PCs, is the first the company has struck with a computer manufacturer.
Similar partner alliances were what helped Google become the most popular search engine, and are the grounds upon which Microsoft and Google are waging war in the battle to be the default portal to the web on consumers’ PCs.
Google said Sony Vaio computers carrying Chrome have already started to go on sale.
The company also said the arrangement was “experimental” and one aspect of a bigger campaign to increase Chrome distribution. Google also has a deal to package its browser with RealPlayer software, and the company has also begun television advertising, it said.
Though Chrome has 30 million users, it represents just two percent of total browser market share.
In comparison, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer claims 68 percent of the market, though that percentage has recently been in decline.
Mozilla’s Firefox, which Google pays to use its search engine as the default, claims 25 percent of the market.
Part of the problem is awareness, Google executives in the article conceded. Few people are aware of Google’s browser.
Another problem is that Google’s announced Chrome operating system, a strong tool in aiding distribution of the Chrome browser, is nowhere near completion.
Andrew J. Nusca is an associate editor for ZDNet and SmartPlanet.
See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
..gotta love him!
