socialrosiechen: Figures show Google Gmail and Docs destroying Outlook's market share. Next victim: Excel

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Figures show Google Gmail and Docs destroying Outlook's market share. Next victim: Excel

Those ingenious folks over at RescueTime have compiled another fantastic set of statistics -- last time it was how much money the Google Pac-Man homage cost the world, and today it's some damning graphs of just how much market share Gmail and Docs are gaining at the expense of Microsoft's Office suite.

Last year, Outlook lost almost 6% of its users, while Gmail gained 3%. Google Calendar shows a massive gain, from obscurity to almost 10% of RescueTime users. Google Docs gained about 5%, which matches the 5% loss shown by Microsoft Excel. In total, 79% of users use the range of Google Apps, while only 52% are using Microsoft Office.

Don't worry, both RescueTime and I are well aware that these numbers are biased -- but in a good way. With these numbers coming from a tool used primarily by those trying to boost productivity, these numbers are a leading indicator.

The tech industry has proven time and time again that early adopters drive entire industry segments, and looking at these graphs, it's pretty clear that Google has all but won over with the tech-savvy crowd. Now it's just a matter of driving home a victory, something Google seems more than capable of doing.

It's now plaintively obvious why Microsoft has hurried its Office Web Apps: to reclaim some of its market share before it's too late.