Categories: Firefox

Early Returns on Firefox Quantum Point to Growth

When we set out to launch Firefox Quantum earlier this year, we knew we had a hugely improved product. It not only felt faster — with a look and feel that tested off the charts — it was measurably faster. Thanks to multiple changes under the hood, we doubled Firefox’s speed while using 30% less memory than Chrome.

In less than a month, Firefox Quantum has already been installed by over 170M people around the world. We’re just getting started and early returns are super encouraging.

Here’s a look at the top initial indicators we are seeing for Firefox Quantum since our launch:

  1. Our biggest release to date. Firefox Quantum is Firefox’s fastest path to 100M+ profiles and half a billion daily hours of use on a new release in recent memory – a product of both seamless release and strong uptick in new profiles. And, millions of users are still getting their first introduction to Firefox Quantum every day.
  2. More users are coming from Chrome. We’ve seen a 44% growth in downloads from people who are using the Chrome browser compared to the same time last year.
  3. Mobile is growing too. Our four core mobile apps are experiencing strong growth resulting from the launch of Firefox Quantum. Firefox for iOS and Android has shown a 24% lift in installs, and Firefox Focus for Android and iOS showed a 48% lift in installs.
  4. The Add-ons ecosystem remains strong. Over 1,000 Firefox Quantum-ready extensions have been added to addons.mozilla.org since Firefox Quantum was released.
  5. Screenshots is a breakout hit. It’s seeing very strong early traction. Users have taken over 30 million screenshots since the feature launched in late September.                                                                                           
  6. Developer Support for Firefox Quantum:  Improved browser speed and stability, as well as high quality developer tools are giving developers more reasons to try and continue to use Firefox developer tools. Since the September 26th developer edition of Firefox Quantum was released, we saw a 10% increase in daily use of developer tools and a 53% increase in Developer edition downloads.

Here’s what the world is saying about Firefox Quantum:

7.  Social media Is buzzing. While the fun part was reading what new users had to say, the data also showed a significant positive shift in sentiment across Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, YouTube, and blogs. (Source: Crimson Hexagon social media analytics)

8.  Our Ads are taking off. We took a unique approach to marketing the new Firefox browser, where we focused on what it feels like — and even sounds like — to use our blazingly fast new browser. They came to life in television spots and promoted videos with our “Wait Face” and Reggie Watts video which, combined, had more than half a billion impressions, and a third of those views are from start to finish.

9.  Firefox in the news. We’ve received an overwhelming amount of positive coverage for the new Firefox browser. We’ve seen hundreds of headlines across the globe from Wired’s “Ciao, Chrome: Firefox Quantum Is The Browser Built for 2017, ” to El Pais’ “Firefox wants to reinvent browsers with Quantum” and Usbek & Rica’s “Firefox Quantum: ‘We’re back’.”

We’re incredibly heartened by the positive response since the launch. We’ll continue to watch these numbers, and plan to check back in the new year with an update!