mozilla firefox - porter analysis

Marketing Management Spring 2009

Project team members:Riccardo BettinelliGim Chuan GohAgnieszka CzeciorJakob MarovtCarolina K. Ruggiero

Mozilla Corporation - Porter`s five forces

• Switching costs: depend on different type of users, with broader internet audience costs are growing

• Capital requirements: 3 players have more than 20 billion $ revenue => really hard for new entrants to compete

• Brand identity: 4 very strong brands (very hard for new entrants to penetrate the market

• Access to distribution: big established companies have better and more distribution channels than the new ones (e.g. Google advertisements for Chrome are everywhere)

• Government policy: EU vs. Microsoft monopoly on important distribution channel (OS distribution)


• High degree of dependency on Google`s revenue share (91% of Firefox`s total revenue)

• Buyer profits: Firefox connects many users with Google services through the search bar (drives internet traffic to Google)

• Almost none available substitute products

• Very dependent on the number of users => affects our bargaing arguments with search engine providers

• CR ratio - 98%

• Switching costs: depend on different type of users

• Differentiation: applying new features, Distribution: new platform opportunities (mobile, etc. )

• Growing market: 300% in last 8 years, around 10% estimation for next years

• Different development culture (in comparison to our main competitors) is our main advantage


Internet ExplorerFirefoxSafariGoogle Chrome

• very few outside threats to internet browser in terms of substitute products

• some potential substitutes in the future: interactive television, OS integrated desktop applications that use internet sources (e.g. Adobe AIR)

• no “real” suppliers!!!

• our external developers (open-source community) are somehow suppliers of ideas & knowledge and we very much relly on their willingness to help developing our product



• our case is very specific regarding suppliers and substitutes in comparison to more “traditional” industries

• awkward relationship between Google and Mozilla Firefox (both competitor & customer), makes Google very powerful negotiator

• our competition is the main force affecting our market position (differentiation of our product plays important role)

• entrance barrier is high and factors affecting the success in browser market are very hard to determine (Opera has been trying hard but only reaches 2% of market share)

mozilla firefox - porter analysis

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