Mozilla's Firefox, once a popular Internet browser, has reportedly lost 46 million users in the past three years. Possible causes include a lack of significant updates and the overwhelming popularity of browsers like Google Chrome. Even Microsoft, which had been forcing users to use Edge and making things difficult for Mozilla, changed its mind after public outcry.

The website Itsfoss.com first broke the news after investigating Firefox's Pubic Date Report. The report shows a steady decline over three years: at the end of 2018, Firefox had over 244 million active users; fast forward to 2021, and there are only 198 million active users left. That's a significant decline in a short period of time.

Firefox has not always struggled to retain users. For a time, it was competing with the likes of Internet Explorer, which was king in the early 2000s; in 2008, Firefox had about 30% of all browsers. Of course, this was before Google's Chrome had firmly established itself.

Today, Chrome has a 65% market share, dominating other desktop and mobile browsers. This is partly due to Google's constant updates and its dominance on Android devices. It is also due to the inability of both Firefox and Microsoft's new browser Edge to evolve quickly enough to compete. However, Edge is now based on Chromium, making it more like Chrome.

Mozilla's Firefox will not disappear overnight. It still has many users and is the default browser for Linux users. Of course, not all users are happy with Chrome. Nevertheless, if this downward spiral continues, it could create problems for Firefox, which makes 94% of its revenue from royalties earned through web browser search partnerships.

Basically, the more users Firefox loses, the less money it makes. Earlier this year, Mozilla underwent a radical redesign, doubling down on password security and VPN capabilities; while Mozilla is still an overall lighter browser and the added features may help it compete with Google Chrome, if this downward trend continues, it could spell doom for Firefox could spell doom for Firefox.