Japanese browser maker takes on IE, Firefox
Fenrir wants to snare 5% of the browser market
IDG News Service - TOKYO -- A Japanese software company is stepping up international promotion of its Web browser in the hope of carving out a 5% share over the next few years of a market dominated by Internet Explorer and Firefox.
The Sleipnir browser is well-known among Japanese technophiles, many of whom value the high level of customization that the browser allows. At the center of this customization is the ability to select either the Trident or Gecko layout engines for each Web site visited. Trident was developed by Microsoft Corp. and is used in Internet Explorer while Gecko is used in Mozilla's Firefox.
As any user who has changed Web browsers knows, some sites look different or offer different functionality depending on the browser in use. By clicking a small button in the bottom left of the browser and switching between Trident and Gecko, users can choose the best one for the particular site.
Fenrir Inc., which is based in Osaka, began development of the browser in 2005 and has been offering an English version alongside its main Japanese version for sometime but decided to step up promotion overseas after noticing demand rising for the browser from international users, said Yasuhiro Miki, director of Fenrir's overseas marketing division.
"We'd like to focus on advanced users," he said.
In the next couple of years, Fenrir hopes to dramatically grow its user base from the current roughly 100,000 users to around 17 million, Miki said. That corresponds to about 5% of the English-speaking Web user base, he said.
In Japan, the browser has a 9% market share, according to Fenrir. No independent data to verify that claim is available, but a recent survey of 3,003 computer programmers published by Nikkei ITpro put Sleipnir's share at 6% among that group.
Initially, the focus is on the English-speaking market, but Fenrir has plans to look at other language versions, including Spanish and French.



- Excel 2010 Cheat Sheet
- Register for this Computerworld Insider Cheat Sheet and gain access to hundreds of premium content articles, guides, product reviews and more.
- Digital Transformation: Creating New Business Models Where Digital Meets Physical
- Individuals and businesses alike are embracing the digital revolution. Social networks and digital devices are being used to engage government, businesses and civil...
- Make the Connection: Better Network Connectivity Drives Transformation
- Network connectivity is more than just plumbing. Leading organizations today see high-performance network connectivity as a critical enabler of competitive advantage, and not...
- Virtualizing Government Infrastructure
- All server virtualization solutions are not created equal. The more-with-less agenda for government agencies is tailor-made for server virtualization, which is evolving into...
- Moving Service Management to SaaS
- Today, organizations can enjoy similarly substantial benefi ts by migrating their IT service management functions to a software-as-a-service model. This paper shows how...
- Achieving 360 Degree Network Visibility with Nimsoft
- 360° network visibility is critical for ensuring continuous availability of networks, servers, and applications-anything less could
have costly bottom-line implications.
All Networking White Papers
- Optimizing Networks for the Cloud
- Join guest speaker, Rohit Mehra, IDC Director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure, to explore current trends, discuss best practices for optimizing Data Center and...
- Unified Communications 101
- What's the best way to implement a unified communications solution for your organization?
- Try the OptiView® XG on your network - FREE
- The OptiView® XG is the first dedicated tablet with automated network and application analysis -- fastest way to root cause. XG raises the...
- Apps QuickStart Series Part 2: Designing and Deploying SQL Server on VMware vSphere
- Download this webcast to learn about the design considerations for virtualizing SQL workloads, performance and scalability information and high-availability options, as well as...
- Apps QuickStart Series Part 1: Designing and Deploying Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere
- Download this webcast to learn the virtual hardware design considerations for Exchange 2010, deployment using the building block approach, options for high-availability and... All Networking Webcasts