Native Web Browser

The download page for the Swing browser.
The download page for the Swing browser.

 

A Korean web browser is enjoying tremendous popularity in the local IT environment dominated by foreign browsers such as Microsoft’s Internet Explore (IE) and Google Chrome. The local browser is getting a lot of attention in the industry because it exceeded 10 billion downloads only two months after its initial release. 

According to ESTsoft’s subsidiary Zoom Internet on Feb. 25, Swing, a Korean web browser launched at the beginning of December, recently surpassed 10 billion downloads. The number of people consistently using the browser after the download as of January amounted to 610,000, an increase of more than 100,000 users from December. The company behind Swing explained that users are getting more interested in its browser. 

The fact that Swing was able to achieve 10 billion downloads for a short period of time is related to the local web environment heavily dominated by IE. 

According to web traffic analysis company StatCounter, IE was the most favored web browser in the country in January, representing 78.8 percent, followed by Chrome (17.7 percent), and Firefox (1.45 percent). However, the combined market share of web browsers in second and third places does not come close to half of IE’s figure. 

Local Internet users heavily dependent on IE have searched for an alternative. Chrome users have increased, but the problem is that there is not enough support for Chrome in the local IT environment, where the support for ActiveX controls is essential. Swing, on the other hand, is welcomed by local users, since the web browser follows Web standards and also supports ActiveX controls.

An anonymous source using Swing for two months after its release commented, “I once tried to replace Internet Explorer 8 with Google Chrome, because IE8 was so slow. But I used both in the end, since it was hard to enable ActiveX controls on Chrome.” The source added, “Now, I’m using only Swing, since it is faster than IE8, and allows ActiveX controls to run.”

There are surely many hurdles that Swing has to overcome. The web browser needs to be optimized in order to attract users accustomed to an IE or Chrome environment and their expertise.

However, the local web browser is expected to grow as an alternative to IE, in that Microsoft is going to gradually discontinue its support for Windows XP and IE. Unlike Microsoft’s web browser, locally-made Swing can adapt quickly to the local IT environment, and any problem experienced by users can be fixed quickly. 

Swing is growing as a Web browser made through user involvement. For example, around 3,000 local users have already posted their opinions as to what should be improved on the Swing monitoring blog, calling for corrections. 

The head of a local software company said, “Swing is still unfamiliar to local users, because it is lesser-known than IE or Chrome.” The source added, “Locally-made web browsers are already widely used in China. In that sense, Swing has an advantage. On top of that, the latest technology such as HTML5 can be integrated into the web browser, without removing ActiveX controls. So, Swing has tremendous growth potential.”

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