Mozilla claims 30 per cent of browser market

Mozilla has claimed big gains for its Firefox browser

Mozilla has claimed in its first quarterly analyst report that Firefox has captured 30 per cent of the global browser market.

The Mozilla Metrics Report Q1 2010 (PDF), which the firm describes as a " high-level view of key metrics on an ongoing basis", revealed that Firefox now has more than 350 million users worldwide.

"We are a global community with more than 350 million people around the world using the Firefox web browser," the report said.

"While we are careful to ensure that the data we collect and the metrics we track are fairly limited, we feel compelled to share the little wisdom we're able to extract from our numbers."

Firefox has seen most growth in Russia, according to the findings, and users in South America and Antarctica are the most likely to personalise the browser.

Typical users have two or three tabs open at any one time, the report said, but one user was able to work with 600 different tabs open.

Most Firefox users are in Europe, where it has a 40 per cent share, while South America claims just over 31 per cent, and the US and Asia both have around 26 per cent.

It's unclear, however, how big an impact the recently mandated browser ballot page has had on user uptake of the product.

Norwegian browser maker Opera recently declared that downloads of its software had tripled since the introduction of the ballot screen.