Mozilla's chief executive says a sweeping redesign of Firefox is the company's best shot at pulling users away from Google Chrome, the browser that has dominated the market for more than a decade.
The executive made the comments in an interview with Ars Technica, describing the redesign as central to Mozilla's strategy for regaining ground in a market Chrome has controlled since 2012.
Chrome holds roughly 65 percent of global desktop browser usage, according to tracking firm StatCounter. Firefox sits at around 3 percent, down from a peak of nearly 30 percent in 2010, when it was the main alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
The redesign touches the browser's interface, tab management, and how users move between search, browsing, and AI-powered tools. Mozilla has spent the past year testing changes with a subset of users before a broader rollout.
The Firefox chief argued that Chrome's dominance has stalled innovation, and that users want a browser that does not funnel their data into Google's advertising business. Mozilla has long positioned Firefox as the privacy-focused option, blocking third-party tracking cookies by default since 2019.
"We are not trying to out-Google Google," the executive said, according to Ars Technica. The company instead wants Firefox to stand out on speed, privacy, and features that work offline or on-device.
Mozilla faces a steep climb. Chrome comes preinstalled on Android phones and is the default on most Windows and Mac machines, giving Google a structural advantage that no redesign alone can erase. Apple's Safari, meanwhile, holds about 18 percent of the desktop market and is the default on every iPhone and iPad.
Firefox's decline has financial stakes for Mozilla. The nonprofit foundation behind the browser draws most of its revenue from a search deal with Google, a payment that depends on Firefox retaining enough users to matter as a distribution channel.
The company has also cut staff in recent years and shifted resources toward products beyond the browser, including its Pocket read-it-later service and a paid VPN.
Mozilla has not announced a release date for the full redesign. The company says it will continue rolling out changes gradually, gathering feedback before committing to a final version.
Whether the overhaul reverses Firefox's slide is unclear. Browser loyalty runs deep, and switching costs, including bookmarks, saved passwords, and extensions, keep many users in place even when they express frustration with their current browser.
The Firefox chief acknowledged the challenge but said the company has no plans to abandon the fight. "We have to earn every user back," the executive said.
